Methods of administering pai gow poker games with bonus side bets and related apparatuses and systems

ABSTRACT

Methods of administering wagering games comprise accepting an ante wager from each player on a game of pai gow poker to be played against a dealer. Seven cards are dealt to each player and the dealer, with which each player and the dealer is permitted to form a two-card low hand and a five-card high hand. The ante wager, wherein resolving the ante wager comprises returning each ante wager to each player when the low hand held by the dealer is of a predetermined disqualifying rank.

FIELD

The disclosure relates generally to methods of administering wageringgames for casinos and other gaming establishments, and related systemsand apparatuses. More specifically, disclosed embodiments relate tomethods of administering pai gow poker games played against a dealerwherein no commission is paid to the house from winning player hands,and a dealer's low hand of a predetermined rank results in a push forplayers' ante bets.

BACKGROUND

Pai gow poker is a wagering game played in casinos and other gamingestablishments. Conventional pai gow poker is frequently characterizedby slow play. Many bets placed in conventional pai gow poker result in apush. In addition, the house conventionally collects a commission toimprove the profitability of pai gow poker, such as, for example, byretaining 5% of all winning bets. Calculating and collecting thecommission further slows game play.

Some attempts have been made to maintain the profitability of pai gowpoker without the necessity to collect any commission. For example, U.S.patent application Ser. No. 12/618,597, filed Nov. 13, 2009, for“COMMISSIONLESS PAI GOW WITH DEALER QUALIFICATION,” the disclosure ofwhich is incorporated herein in its entirety by this reference,discloses methods for administering commissionless pai gow poker games.Briefly, the dealer's hand must be of a predetermined rank or higher tocontinue according to otherwise conventional scoring and payout rules.If the dealer's hand does not achieve the predetermined rank or higher,player bets are paid a fixed odds payout of 1:2.

As another example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,262,450, filed Jul. 6, 2009 andissued Sep. 11, 2012, for “NON-COMMISSION PAI GOW POKER GAMES, DEVICES,SYSTEMS AND METHODS THEREOF,” the disclosure of which is incorporatedherein in its entirety by this reference, discloses additional methodsfor administering non-commission pai gow poker games. Briefly, theplayers' ante wagers push when the dealer's high hand (i.e., thefive-card hand) is ranked queen high. Players may make an optional sidebet, which results in a 50:1 fixed odds payout when the dealer'shigh-hand (i.e., the five-card hand) is ranked queen high.

BRIEF SUMMARY

In some embodiments, methods of administering wagering games compriseaccepting an ante wager from each player on a game of pai gow poker tobe played against a dealer. The “ante” wager for purposes of thisdisclosure is defined as the basic game wager that is resolved bycomparing the player's high and low hand to the dealer high and lowhand. Seven cards are dealt to each player and the dealer, with whicheach player and the dealer are respectively permitted to form a two-cardlow hand and a five-card high hand. The ante wager is returned to eachplayer when the low hand held by the dealer is of a predetermineddisqualifying rank. For example, a nine high.

In other embodiments, gaming tables for administering wagering gamescomprise a playing surface including at least one player interface forat least one player position, at least one dealer interface for a dealerposition, and at least one processor. The at least one processor isprogrammed to accept an ante wager from each player on a game of pai gowpoker to be played against a dealer, process rank and suit informationfor cards dealt to each player and the dealer, process rank informationof a two-card low hand and a five-card high hand set by each player orthe dealer from the cards dealt to each player and the dealer, andresolve the ante wager. Resolving the ante wager comprises authorizingreturn of each ante wager to each player when the low hand held by thedealer is ranked nine high.

In still other embodiments, electronic gaming machines for administeringwagering games comprise at least one player display and at least oneplayer interface, wherein the player interface is configured to acceptplayer input, and at least one processor. The at least one processor isprogrammed to accept an ante wager via the at least one player interfacefrom each player on a game of pai gow poker to be played against adealer, display on the at least one player display rank and suitinformation for cards dealt to each player, display rank information ofa two-card low hand and a five-card high hand selected by each playerand the dealer from the cards dealt to each player and cards dealt tothe dealer, and resolve the ante wager. Resolving the ante wagercomprises authorizing return of each ante wager to each player when thelow hand held by the dealer is ranked nine high.

In yet other embodiments, systems for administering wagering games overnetworks comprise a game server configured to be accessed by a clientserver. The game server is programmed to accept an ante wager via theclient server from each player on a game of pai gow poker to be playedagainst a dealer, transmit to the client server rank and suitinformation for cards dealt to each player, transmit to the clientserver rank information of a two-card low hand and a five-card high handselected by each player and the dealer from the cards dealt to eachplayer and cards dealt to the dealer, and resolve the ante wager.Resolving the ante wager comprises authorizing return of each ante wagerto each player when the low hand held by the dealer is ranked nine high.

In additional embodiments, methods of administering player-bankedwagering games over networks may comprise: designating at a game servera player to act as a dealer for a round of play and sending from a userinteraction server an indication of which player has been designated asthe dealer; receiving at the user interaction server authorization fromeach player to receive a player-banked ante wager and sending from theuser interaction server an indication that the player-banked ante wagershave been added to a player-banked pot; receiving at the userinteraction server authorization to receive a progressive wager fromeach player and sending from the user interaction server an indicationthat the progressive wagers have been added to a progressive potseparate from the player-banked pot; transferring a rake from theprogressive pot to an account server; sending from the user interactionserver rank and suit information for seven cards allocated to eachplayer; receiving at the user interaction server user instructions fromeach player not designated as the dealer to arrange their cards intotheir chosen high hand and low hand configurations; applying at a gameserver a house way and arranging cards allocated to the dealer into highhand and a low hand configuration; evaluating at the game server thedealer's low hand and determining whether it is of a predetermineddisqualifying rank: if the dealer's low hand is of the predetermineddisqualifying rank, returning one-half of the amount of each ante wagerto each player not designated as the dealer; if the dealer's low hand isnot of the predetermined disqualifying rank, returning one-half of theamount of the ante wager to the dealer; resolving the ante wager bycomparing at the game server the high hand of each player to the highhands of the other players and the dealer and the low hand of eachplayer to the low hands of the other players the dealer, wherein anentire remaining amount in the player banked pot is awarded to theplayer holding the highest ranked high hand, the highest ranked lowhand, or the highest ranked high hand and low hand; and resolving theprogressive wager by comparing at the game server the high hand orseven-card hand of each player and the dealer to a paytable, wherein atleast a portion of the progressive pot, less the rake, is awarded to theplayer or the dealer holding a predetermined winning hand combination ora premium winning hand composition.

In yet additional embodiments, methods of administering player-bankedwagering games over networks may comprise: designating at a game servera player to act as a dealer for a round of play and sending from a userinteraction server an indication of which player has been designated asthe dealer; receiving at the user interaction server authorization fromeach player to receive a player-banked ante wager and sending from theuser interaction server an indication that the player-banked ante wagershave been added to a player-banked pot; receiving at the userinteraction server authorization to receive another wager from eachplayer and sending from the user interaction server an indication thatthe other wagers have been added to another pot separate from theplayer-banked pot; transferring a rake from the other pot to an accountserver; sending from the user interaction server rank and suitinformation for seven cards allocated to each player; receiving at theuser interaction server user instructions from each player notdesignated as the dealer to arrange their cards into their chosen highhand and low hand configurations; applying at a game server a house wayand arranging cards allocated to the dealer into high hand and a lowhand configuration; evaluating at the game server the dealer's low handand determining whether it is of a predetermined disqualifying rank: ifthe dealer's low hand is of the predetermined disqualifying rank,returning one-half of the amount of each ante wager to each player notdesignated as the dealer; if the dealer's low hand is not of thepredetermined disqualifying rank, returning one-half of the amount ofthe ante wager to the dealer; resolving the player-banked ante wager bycomparing at the game server the high hand of each player and the dealerto the high hands of the other players and the dealer and the low handof each player and the dealer to the low hands of the other players andthe dealer, wherein an entire remaining amount in the player-banked potis awarded to the player holding the highest ranked high hand, thehighest ranked low hand, or the highest ranked high hand and low hand;and resolving the other wager by determining at the game server whethera predetermined event has occurred, wherein at least a portion of theother pot, less the rake, is distributed among the players and thedealer when the predetermined event has occurred.

In still further embodiments, methods of administering play-for-freewagering games over networks may comprise: sending from a userinteraction server a quantity of valueless wagering elements usablewithin a predetermined time period to each player; receiving at the userinteraction server authorization from each player to allocate at leastone valueless chip to an ante wager; sending from the user interactionserver rank and suit information for seven cards allocated to eachplayer; receiving at the user interaction server user instructions fromeach player to arrange their cards into their chosen high hand and lowhand configurations; applying at a game server a house way and arrangingcards allocated to a dealer into high hand and a low hand configuration;evaluating at the game server the dealer's low hand and determiningwhether it is of a predetermined disqualifying rank: if the dealer's lowhand is of the predetermined disqualifying rank, returning each antewager to each player; if the dealer's low hand is not of thepredetermined disqualifying rank, resolving the ante wager by comparingat the game server the high hand and the low hand of each player to thehigh hand and the low hand of the dealer; and receiving authorization toredeem a valueless access token at the user interaction server from aplayer who has exhausted the quantity of valueless wagering elements ordetermining that the predetermined time period has lapsed for a playerwho has exhausted the quantity of valueless wagering elements andsending from the user interaction server another quantity of valuelesswagering elements usable within another predetermined time period to theplayer.

Further embodiments may include one, some, or all of the following: Theacts of the dealer may be carried out by a visual representation of adealer, the visual representation being generated and/or displayed by acomputer. The visual representation may be a virtual person (e.g., ananimation), or may be a transmission (e.g., a video) of an actualperson. The visual representation may be part of an online gamingexperience of the disclosed game. The acts described in this disclosureassociated with a dealer, including dealing cards, displaying or turningcards over, receiving or paying bets, or any other actions, may berepresented in any way when used in an online environment. For example,the cards associated with a dealer action, described as being dealt orotherwise handled by a dealer, may appear as virtual cards or astransmitted pictures of physical cards. This may include a display ofvirtual card decks where each deck, individual card, and hand isdisplayed to an online player in a manner consistent with the game playdisclosed herein, but may or may not include a visual representation ofa dealer with the cards. Likewise, betting activity may be displayed inany manner to a player, including, but not limited to, virtual chips,betting pools, numbers, or other indicia of a bet amount.

The online experience may involve players playing remotely (e.g., in adifferent physical location) from the dealer, remotely from the locationof a game server, or remotely from both, interacting through a networkedconnection that may include, but is not limited to, the Internet. Theonline game play may involve players who are also physically remote fromeach other. Remote connections may use networks involving several typesof network links including, but not limited to, the Internet. Networkedconnections allowing physically remote players to play a game using agame server or system may be part of an implementation of a virtual oronline gaming environment.

Live, electronic, or online-implementations of the methods describedherein may be configured for administration as either “play-for-pay”embodiments or “play-for-fun” embodiments. In play-for-pay embodiments,wagers having real-world monetary value are received and payouts havingreal-world monetary value may be distributed. Play-for-pay embodimentsinclude “house-banked” embodiments and “player-banked” embodiments. Inhouse-banked embodiments, payouts are paid by, and losses are retainedby, the game administrator (e.g., a casino or other gamingestablishment). In player-banked embodiments (e.g., “player-pooledprogressive” configurations, “dividend refund” configurations), wagersare “raked” by the game administrator (i.e., a portion of the wagers areretained by the game administrator) and then pooled into a pot fromwhich payouts are paid, which pot is eventually distributed to at leastone player; thus, the game administrator retains only the raked amounts.Aside from play-for-pay embodiments, play-for-fun embodiments (e.g.,“free play-for-fun” configurations, “social play-for-fun”configurations) involve receiving wagers having no real-world monetaryvalue and distributing payouts having no real-world monetary value.

The actions described in this disclosure as the acts of a player,including betting, card selection (if any), card evaluation, carddiscards (if any), play elections, or any other actions, may be carriedout over a network where the indicated actions are received as input toa device. The input-receiving device is typically physically remote fromthe game server or game host and is connected over a long-distancenetwork, but may also be implemented over a wired or wireless LAN in onebuilding, or even in one room, for example. In one embodiment, game playgenerated at the server or host location may be displayed on the samedevice as the receiving device. In some embodiments, game play may beconveyed to remote players in devices separate from the devicesreceiving input from a player, such as public screens or publiclybroadcast data about a game coupled with individual or private inputdevices. The reception of an input at a device may be accomplishedthrough any technology adapted for such a purpose including, but notlimited to, keypads, keyboards, touchpads, touch screens, buttons, mice,optical location devices, eye movement/location detectors, sound inputdevices, etc. When discussing a device, it is understood the device maycomprise multiple components and be complex, including hardwarecomponents combined with firmware and/or software, and may itself be asubcomponent of a larger system.

Yet other embodiments may comprise apparatuses and systems foradministering wagering games according to embodiments of the disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

While the disclosure concludes with claims particularly pointing out anddistinctly claiming embodiments within the scope of the disclosure,various features and advantages of embodiments encompassed by thedisclosure may be more readily ascertained from the followingdescription when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a flowchart diagram of a method of administering a wageringgame;

FIG. 2 is a diagram of a playing surface for implementation of thewagering game;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged diagram of one of the player positions of theplaying surface of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart diagram of a method of administering a wageringgame, which may be at least partially player banked, according to aplayer-pooled progressive embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart diagram of a method of administering a wageringgame, which may at least partially player banked, according to adividend refund embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an individual electronic gaming deviceconfigured for implementation of embodiments of wagering games inaccordance with the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a top view of a table configured for implementation ofembodiments of wagering games in accordance with the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of another embodiment of a table configuredfor implementation of embodiments of wagering games in accordance withthe present disclosure, wherein the implementation includes a virtualdealer;

FIG. 9 is a schematic block diagram of a gaming system for implementingembodiments of waging games in accordance with the present disclosure;and

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a computer for acting as a gaming systemfor implementing embodiments of wagering games in accordance with thepresent disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The illustrations presented herein are not meant to be actual views ofany particular act in a method of administering a wagering game,apparatus for use in administering a wagering game, or componentthereof, but are merely idealized representations employed to describeillustrative embodiments. Thus, the drawings are not necessarily toscale. Additionally, elements common between figures may retain the sameor similar numerical designation. Elements with the same number, butincluding a different alphabet character as a suffix should beconsidered as multiple instantiations of substantially similar elementsand may be referred generically without an alphabet character suffix.For example, elements 100 a, 100 b, and 100 c, may be a device that isinstantiated three times and generically referred to herein as element100.

The terms “gaming,” “gambling,” or the like, refer to activities, games,sessions, rounds, hands, rolls, operations, and other events related towagering games such as web-based games, casino games, card games, dicegames, and other games the outcome of which is at least partially basedon one or more random events (“chance” or “chances”), and on whichwagers may be placed by a player. In addition, the words “wager,” “bet,”“bid,” or the like, refer to any type of wager, bet, or gaming venturethat is placed on random events, whether of monetary or non-monetaryvalue. Points, credits, and other items of value may be purchased,earned, or otherwise issued prior to beginning the wagering game. Insome embodiments, purchased points, credits, or other items of value mayhave an exchange rate that is not one-to-one to the currency used by theuser. For example, a wager may include money, points, credits, symbols,or other items that may have some value related to a wagering game.Wagers may be placed in wagering games that involve the risk ofreal-world monetary value for the potential of payouts with real-worldmonetary value (e.g., the “play-for-pay,” “player-pooled progressive,”and “dividend refund” configurations, which are described in more detailbelow) or in wagering games that involve no real-world monetary risksfor the player (e.g., the “play-for-fun” and “social play-for-fun”configurations, which are described in more detail below).

As used herein, the term “wager” includes any form of wagering value,including money, casino chips, other physical means for payment, andonline or remote electronic authorization of a wager in any acceptableform to the casino or online or virtual game host. Also included arephysical representations of money (e.g., casino chips) at a local gamingtable 126, 400, or 500 (see FIGS. 2, 7, and 8), or electronicauthorizations of a transfer of money or digital representations ofmoney (e.g., digital representations of bills or coins, digitalrepresentations of chips, numerical quantities of money, numericalquantities of points, or numerical quantities of credits) at a local orremote electronic gaming device 300, 400, 500, 620, or 640 (see FIGS. 6through 10). In the “play-for-fun” and “social play-for-fun”configurations, a “wager” may have a point value but does not have acash value (i.e., a real-world monetary value).

For the purposes of this description, it will be understood that when anaction related to accepting wagers, making payouts, dealing cards,selecting cards, or other actions associated with a player or a dealerare described, the description includes a player or a dealer taking theaction, the results of the action on a live or virtual table or display,and, if applicable, the reception or detection of such an action in anelectronic form where player and dealer choices, selections, or otheractions are received at an electronic interface. This further includesthe results of a virtual dealer and virtual players, where the actionsdescribed are actually generated by a computer (typically associatedwith an online game). By way of a further example, if dealing of a cardis described herein, the description includes (but is not limited to)the following: the dealing of a card by a dealer from a deck, shuffler,a shoe, or other card source and the reception or placement of the cardat a table location associated with a player or reception directly by aplayer; the generation and transmission of an electronic indication orrepresentation of a card from a game play source or server to anelectronic receiver, where the receiver may be at a table (using virtualcards) including players and/or virtual players and/or a dealer orvirtual dealer, at a public display in a casino, at a remote location(e.g., using online or Internet game play), or at other locations. Alsoincluded is the representation of a card on a display or displays, and,if applicable to the action described, an electronic reception of anindication that the card has been received, selected, or otherwiseinteracted with at a location associated with a player, or, associatedwith a virtual player. In addition, dealing of a card may refer torevealing a representation of a card on a physical or virtualscratch-off card (also referred to as “scratchers”).

Referring to FIG. 1, a flowchart diagram of a method 100 ofadministering a wagering game is shown. The method 100 may includeaccepting an ante wager from each player on a game of pai gow poker tobe played against a dealer, as indicated at 102. For example, the antewager may comprise a bet that both a five-card high hand and a two-cardlow hand held by a player will outrank the five-card high hand and thetwo-card low hand respectively held by the dealer in accordance with therules of pai gow poker or the rules of a known pai gow poker variant.The ante wager may be accepted, for example, by a dealer physicallyreceiving money, a representation of money by receiving a player inputsignal indicating a wager has been placed, (e.g., a chip or token), orby receiving electronic authorization to charge a player account (e.g.,a credit account or a bank account). More specifically, the ante wagermay be accepted, for example, by physically receiving chips within anante wager position 118 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) on a playing surface 108(see FIG. 2) of a playing table 400 (see FIG. 7), by receiving a signalfrom a user input 332 on a gaming machine (FIG. 6) or by receivingelectronic authorization at a processor 350, 414, 428, 597, or 642 (seeFIGS. 6 through 8 and 10) to charge a player account via a playerinterface 332, 416, 532, 620, 650, or 654 (see FIGS. 6 through 10),which player interface 332, 416, 532, 620, 650, or 654 (see FIGS. 6through 10) may be remotely located from the dealer or processor 350,414, 428, 597, or 642 (see FIGS. 6 through 8 and 10) administering thewagering game in some embodiments.

In some embodiments, a bonus side wager may be accepted from at leastone player. The bonus side wager may comprise, for example, a bet thatthe low hand held by the dealer will be a certain predetermined,disqualifying rank. The bonus side wager may be accepted by performingany of the acts described previously in connection with the ante wager.

In some embodiments, a fortune side wager may be accepted from at leastone player. The fortune side wager may comprise, for example, a bet thata high hand, a seven-card hand or a best five out of seven cards dealtto the player will be of a predetermined rank or higher. In someembodiments, the fortune side wager may comprise a payout when a bestfive-card hand held by a different player than the one placing thefortune side wager will be of a predetermined envy rank or higher. Forexample, the fortune side wager may qualify as a bet that the high handor best five out of seven-card hand of a different player will be of thepredetermined envy rank or higher when an amount of the fortune sidewager is greater than or equal to a threshold amount. As a specific,non-limiting example, the fortune side wager may qualify as a bet thatthe high hand or best five-cards out of seven-card hand of a differentplayer will be of the predetermined envy rank or higher when the amountof the fortune side wager is greater than or equal to five dollars. Whena player places the fortune side wager in an amount less than thethreshold amount, it may function only as a wager that the high hand orthe best five out of seven-card hand achieved by the player will be ofthe predetermined fortune rank or higher. The fortune side wager may beaccepted by performing any of the acts described previously inconnection with the ante wager.

In one embodiment, the fortune side wager pays according to thefollowing payout schedule as shown in TABLE 1:

TABLE 1 Hand Payout Odds Envy Bonus ($) Seven-Card Straight Flush8000:1   $5,000.00 Royal Flush + Royal 2000:1   $1,000.00 Match*1000:1   $500.00 Seven-Card Straight Flush with Joker Five Aces 400:1 $250.00 Royal Flush (5 cards) 150:1  $50.00 Straight Flush (5 cards)50:1  $20.00 Four-of-a-Kind 25:1  $5.00 Full House (5 cards) 5:1 Flush(5 cards) 4:1 Three-of-a-Kind 3:1 Straight (5 cards) 2:1 *King-Queensuited

In one embodiment, players win an envy bonus when another player holds aqualifying hand of a four-of-a-kind or better. Players cannot win anenvy bonus on their own hands. Players also cannot win an envy bonuswhen the dealer holds a qualifying hand. If two players qualify for anenvy bonus, all players win an envy bonus payout. In one example, envybonus payouts are absolute amounts. In other embodiments, envy bonusesare odds payout amounts. When a player meets a minimum threshold amount,such as $5.00 when making the fortune side wager, the dealer marks theplayer bet with a lammer or token. When a winning envy hand is achieved,players with lammers are paid an envy bonus payout according to theposted paytable.

In some embodiments, a progressive side wager may be accepted from atleast one player. The progressive side wager may comprise, for example,a bet that the high hand held by the player making the progressive sidewager will be of a predetermined progressive rank or higher. Anyprogressive side wagers accepted may be pooled in a progressive pot,which may be linked to a group of players playing the wagering game. Forexample, all progressive side wagers made by players at the same table400 (see FIG. 7), by players at a grouping of tables 400 (see FIG. 7),by players at a grouping of electronic gaming machines 300 (see FIG. 6),by players connected to a game server 606 (see FIG. 9), by playersphysically located at a gaming establishment, by players remotelyconnected to a gaming establishment, by all players participating in thewagering game offered by a gaming establishment, or by all playersparticipating in the wagering game at multiple gaming establishments maybe pooled into a progressive pot. In some embodiments, the progressiveside wager may also be a bet that the cards held by the player makingthe progressive side wager will form a premium hand, such as, forexample, a five-card hand not achievable using a standard, 52-card deckor a premium seven-card hand. The progressive side wager may be acceptedby performing any of the acts described previously in connection withthe ante wager.

In some embodiments, a bad beat side wager may be accepted from at leastone player. The bad beat side wager may comprise, for example, any ofthe bad beat side wagers disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Pub. No.2008/0224402, published Sep. 18, 2008, for “BAD BEAT SIDE BET ONHOUSE-BANKED CASINO CARD GAMES,” the disclosure of which is incorporatedherein in its entirety by this reference. Briefly, the bad beat sidewager may comprise a bet that a high hand held by the player, a low handheld by the player, or both the high hand and the low hand held by theplayer will be of a predetermined bad beat rank or higher. The bad beatside wager may be accepted by performing any of the acts describedpreviously in connection with the ante wager.

Once all wagers have been accepted, seven cards may be dealt to eachplayer and the dealer, which cards may be used to form a five-card highhand and a two-card low hand for each player and the dealer, asindicated at 104. Dealing the cards to each player and the dealer maycomprise, for example, physically placing playing cards in eachparticipating player position and a dealer position or electronicallydisplaying rank and suit information (e.g., images, text, or both) ofplaying cards electronically assigned to each participating playerposition and a dealer position. More specifically, the cards may bedealt, for example, by physically distributing playing cards withindesignated player card areas 114 and 116 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) in eachparticipating player position 110 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) on a playingsurface 108 (see FIG. 2) of a playing table 400 (see FIG. 7), displayingelectronic representations including rank and suit information forrandomly generated playing cards on a screen or on screens 374, 416,430, 532, 564, 560, 620, or 658 for each participating player (see FIGS.6 through 10), or electronically transmitting electronic representationsincluding rank and suit information for randomly generated playing cardsto be displayed on a client screen or on screens 374, 416, 430, 532,564, 560, 620, or 658 for each participating player (see FIGS. 6 through10).

After the cards have been distributed, the players may be permitted toselect which cards from among the seven cards dealt to them they willinclude in a five-card high hand, with the remaining cards beingincluded in a two-card low hand. For example, players may separate fiveof their seven cards to form a high hand from the remaining two cards,which may form a low hand, or may interact with a player interface toselect cards for inclusion in the high hand or the low hand. Morespecifically, players may physically position five cards in a high handarea 114 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) to form the high hand and may physicallyposition the remaining two cards in a low hand area 116 (see FIGS. 2 and3) to form the low hand or may interact with a player interface 332,416, 532, 620, 650, or 654 (see FIGS. 6 through 10) to electronicallyindicate which cards are to be included in the high hand and which cardsare to be included in the low hand. The players' selections may bereceived and accepted by, for example, visually inspecting thearrangement of physical cards, automatically detecting the arrangementof physical cards (e.g., using RFID sensors to detect RFID tagsassociated with cards or using an image capture device and imageprocessing software to analyze the cards and their arrangement), orautomatically processing the electronic indications made by playersusing a processor 350, 414, 428, 597, or 642 (see FIGS. 6 through 8 and10). If a player's low hand outranks the player's high hand, the playermay be required to revise the selected high and low hands such that thehigh hand outranks the low hand, in accordance with the rules ofconventional pai gow poker. Revising the high and low hands, andaccompanying receipt and acceptance, may be accomplished by performingany of the acts described previously in connection with the originalselection, receipt, and acceptance of the high and low hands.

The dealer may also select which of the seven dealer cards will form afive-card high hand and which cards will form a two-card low hand. Insome embodiments, the method used by the dealer to form the high and lowhands may be dictated by a set of rules for setting the high and lowhands for the dealer, the set of rules commonly referred to as the“house way.” The house way of selecting the dealer's high and low handsmay comprise, for example, any of the house ways disclosed in U.S. Pat.No. 8,342,529, filed Oct. 1, 2009 and issued Jan. 1, 2013, for“AUTOMATED HOUSE WAY INDICATOR AND ACTIVATOR,” the disclosure of whichis incorporated herein in its entirety by this reference. Briefly, thedealer's cards may be arranged to both ensure that the dealer's highhand outranks the dealer's low hand and increase the likelihood that atleast one of the dealer's high and low hands will outrank thecorresponding high hand or low hand of each player. In otherembodiments, the dealer may select at will how to arrange cards into thehigh hand and the low hand, although it may still be required that thehigh hand outrank the low hand. The dealer may select the high hand andthe low hand, for example, by performing any of the actions describedpreviously in connection with the original selection of the player'shigh and low hands or the dealer's high and low hands may beautomatically generated by a processor 350, 414, 428, 597, or 642 (seeFIGS. 6 through 8 and 10), which may be programmed to apply the houseway of forming the high and low hands.

In some embodiments, players may request that the dealer assist insetting the players high and low hands. The dealer may utilize theautomated house way indicator and activator, described above, to assistin setting the player hands. In one embodiment, the dealer must set theplayer hand the house way if the player requests assistance.

After each player and the dealer has finished forming the high hand andthe low hand from his or her cards, each wager may be resolved, asindicated for the ante wager at 106. For example, the dealer's low handmay be examined first to determine whether the dealer's hands areeligible to continue with the underlying game of pai gow poker. If thedealer's low hand is of a predetermined rank, the dealer's hands may bedisqualified. Disqualification may result, for example, in a push,causing at least each ante wager to be returned to each player, asindicated at 106, or a dealer loss, resulting in a payout to eachplayer. As another specific, nonlimiting example, a small, fixed oddspayout of between 1:1.5 and 1:4 (e.g., 1:2) may be paid to each playerwhen the dealer's low hand is of the predetermined rank. Thepredetermined, disqualifying rank may be, for example, a nine high.Disqualifying the dealer's hands based on the rank of the low hand mayenable the game of pai gow poker to remain profitable for the casino orother gaming establishment without having to collect any commissions onplayer's winnings. By refraining from collecting commissions, andavoiding the necessity to calculate, potentially haggle over, roundingoff numbers and collect the commission, the speed with which each roundof play is administered is increased, which increases the profitabilityof pai gow poker because more wagers are being made per unit of time. Inembodiments where a player is permitted to act as the banker, the housemay take a commission on all the banking player's net winnings (e.g., 5%of net winnings). Furthermore, basing the decision on whether thedealer's hands are eligible on the low hand may reduce playerdisappointment when the dealer's hands are disqualified. For example,the dealer's hands may be disqualified even when the dealer's high handranks very high (e.g., is a royal flush, a straight flush, or afour-or-a-kind), which may be a relief to players who otherwise wouldhave lost. When the disqualification decision is based on the high hand,by contrast, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,262,450, players holdingparticularly strong hands may be disappointed because they may otherwisehave won outright.

In embodiments where disqualification of the dealer's hands results in apush, each ante wager may be returned to a respective player. Returningthe ante wagers to the players may comprise, for example, physicallyreturning money or chips to a player or issuing electronic authorizationto credit a player account. More specifically, the ante wager may bereturned, for example, by physically removing chips from the ante wagerposition 118 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) on the playing surface 108 (see FIG. 2)of the playing table 400 (see FIG. 7), by receiving electronicauthorization at the processor 350, 414, 428, 597, or 642 (see FIGS. 6through 8 and 10) to credit a player account via a dealer interface 418(see FIG. 7), or by automatically generating electronic authorization atthe processor 350, 414, 428, 597, or 642 (see FIGS. 6 through 8 and 10).

In embodiments where disqualification of the dealer's hands results in apayout, a payout may be paid to each player. Paying the payout maycomprise, for example, physically giving money or chips or by grantingelectronic authorization to transfer funds to a player account. Morespecifically, the payout may be paid, for example, by physically placingchips within a player position 110 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) on a playingsurface 108 (see FIG. 2) of a playing table 400 (see FIG. 7), byreceiving electronic authorization at a processor 350, 414, 428, 597, or642 (see FIGS. 6 through 8 and 10) via a dealer interface 418 (see FIG.7) to transfer funds from an account server 610 (see FIG. 9) to a playeraccount, or automatically generating electronic authorization at theprocessor 350, 414, 428, 597, or 642 (see FIGS. 6 through 8 and 10) totransfer funds from an account server 610 to a player account (see FIG.9). The basis for the payout may be the amount of the ante wager in someembodiments. In other embodiments, the basis for the payout may furtherinclude the amount of the bonus side wager, the fortune side wager, aprogressive side wager or the side wager and the fortune side wager.

Determining whether the dealer hand qualifies to continue with the gameof pai gow poker may also resolve the bonus side wager. For example,when the dealer's low hand is not of the predetermined rank, the bonusside wager may lose, resulting in the dealer collecting the amount ofthe bonus side wager. For example, the bonus wager in one embodimentpays 30:1 when the dealer's low hand is a nine high. If the dealer holdsany other hand, the wager is lost and the house takes the wager.Returning the amount of the bonus side wager may be accomplished byperforming any of the acts described previously in connection with thepush on the ante wager resulting from the dealer's disqualifying lowhand. Collecting the amount of the bonus side wager may be accomplished,for example, by physically retrieving money or chips or grantingelectronic authorization to transfer funds to a dealer account. Morespecifically, collecting the amount of the bonus side wager may beaccomplished, for example, by physically retrieving chips from a bonusside wager position 120 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) on the playing surface 108(see FIG. 2) of a playing table 400 (see FIG. 7), receiving electronicauthorization at a processor 350, 414, 428, 597, or 642 (see FIGS. 6through 8 and 10) via a dealer interface 418 (see FIG. 7) to transferfunds from a player account to an account server 610 (see FIG. 9), orautomatically generating electronic authorization at the processor 350,414, 428, 597, or 642 (see FIGS. 6 through 8 and 10) to transfer fundsfrom an account server 610 to a player account (see FIG. 9).

When the dealer's low hand is of the predetermined, disqualifying rank,a bonus payout may be paid on the bonus side wager. For example, a fixedodds bonus payout of between 25:1 and 35:1 (e.g., 30:1) may be paid onthe bonus side wager when the dealer's low hand is disqualified. In oneembodiment, this side bed is referred to as a “Tiger 9”™ side bet. Thus,the bonus side wager may enable a player to receive a bonus payout whenthe player may not otherwise receive a payout because of the dealer'shands' disqualification (e.g., where the dealer's disqualifying low handresults in a push or a loss on the ante wager). Paying the bonus payouton the bonus side wager may be accomplished by performing any of theacts described previously in connection with paying the payout on theante wager as a result of the dealer's disqualified low hand.

If the dealer's hands qualify to continue with the game of pai gowpoker, the ante wager may be resolved by comparing the high hand and thelow hand of each player to the high hand and the low hand of the dealer.If the player's high hand outranks the dealer's high hand, and theplayer's low hand outranks the dealer's low hand, a payout may be paidto the player. In some embodiments, wild cards may be used to form amore desirable hand than would otherwise be achieved based on the dealtcards alone. For example, the game may be played with a 53-card deckincluding a joker, which is semi-wild, meaning the joker may be used asan Ace or to complete a straight, flush, or straight flush. Paying thepayout may be accomplished by performing any of the acts describedpreviously in connection with the payout resulting from a dealer'sdisqualifying low hand. The payout on the ante wager may be, forexample, a fixed odds payout. As a specific, nonlimiting example, thepayout on the ante wager may be, for example, between 1:1 and 2:1. Inone example, the payout is 1:1 on the ante. The basis for the payout onthe ante wager may be the amount of the ante wager itself in someembodiments. In other embodiments, the basis for the payout may furtherinclude the amount of the bonus side wager, the fortune side wager, orthe bonus side wager and the fortune side wager. If one of the dealer'shigh hand and low hand outranks the corresponding high hand or low handof the player, and the other of the dealer's high hand and low hand isoutranked by the corresponding high hand or low hand of the player, theante wager may be a push, causing the ante wager to be returned to theplayer. Returning the ante to the player may be accomplished byperforming any of the acts described previously in connection with thepush resulting from a dealer's disqualifying low hand. If the dealer'shigh hand outranks the player's high hand, and the dealer's low handoutranks the player's low hand, the amount of the ante wager may becollected by the dealer. Collecting the amount of the ante wager may beaccomplished by performing any of the acts described previously inconnection with collecting the bonus side wager.

In embodiments where the fortune side wager has been made in an amountless than the threshold amount, the fortune side wager may be resolved,for example, by evaluating the best five-card hand made from the sevencards dealt to the player to determine whether the best five-card handis of the predetermined minimum fortune rank or higher. Thepredetermined minimum fortune rank may comprise, for example, two pair,three pair, three-of-a-kind, or a five-card straight. In one example,the minimum hand ranking for a winning fortune hand is a five-cardstraight. In another example, the minimum hand ranking isthree-of-a-kind. In some embodiments, the fortune side wager may remainin play regardless of whether the dealer's low hand is of thedisqualifying rank. In other embodiments, the fortune side wager mayreceive the same consequences as the ante wager (i.e., may entitle theplayer to a small payout, may be a push, or may be collected) when thedealer's low hand is of the disqualifying rank. The fortune payout forthe fortune side wager may be different from the payout for the antewager. For example, the fortune payout on the fortune side wager may bea fixed odds payout that increases for the player's achievement ofincreasingly unlikely hands. An illustrative paytable for the fortunepayout on the fortune side wager portion may be as follows:

Hand Achieved by the Player Fortune Payout Seven-Card Straight Flush8,000:1    Five-Card Royal Flush Plus Two-Card Royal 2,000:1    MatchSeven Card Straight Flush Including a Joker 1,000:1    Five Aces 400:1 Royal Flush 150:1  Straight Flush 50:1  Four-of-a-Kind 25:1  Full House5:1 Flush 4:1 Three-of-a-Kind 3:1 Straight 2:1 Three Pair PushPaying the fortune payout may be accomplished by performing any of theacts described previously in connection with the payout resulting from adealer's disqualifying low hand. When the five-card hand or seven-cardhand achieved by the player is less than the predetermined fortune rank,the fortune side bet may be a push or may be collected by the dealer.Returning the fortune side bet to the player may be accomplished byperforming any of the acts described previously in connection with thepush resulting from a dealer's disqualifying low hand, and collectingthe fortune side bet may be accomplished by performing any of the actsdescribed previously in connection with collecting the bonus side wager.

In embodiments where the fortune side wager has been made in an amountexceeding the threshold amount, resolving the fortune side wager mayfurther include evaluating the best five out of seven-card hands of theplayers other than the player who made the fortune side wager. If atleast one of the best five out of seven-card hands held by the otherplayers is of a predetermined envy rank or higher, an envy payout may bepaid to the other players. The predetermined envy rank may be, forexample, a full house, four-of-a-kind, a straight flush, a royal flush,five-of-a-kind, five aces, a seven-card flush, a seven-card flushincluding a joker, a royal flush. In some embodiments, a separate envypayout may be paid for each other player when one player has achieved abest five out of seven-card hand of the predetermined envy rank orhigher. In other embodiments, only a single envy payout may be paid. Theenvy payout may be, for example, a fixed payout that increases in valuewhen the other player achieves an increasingly unlikely hand. Anillustrative paytable for the envy payout may be as follows:

Hand Achieved by a Different Player Envy Payout Seven-Card StraightFlush $5,000 Five-Card Royal Flush Plus Two-Card Royal $1,000 MatchSeven-Card Straight Flush Including a Joker $500 Five Aces $250 RoyalFlush $50 Straight Flush $20 Four-of-a-Kind $5Paying the envy payout may be accomplished by performing any of the actsdescribed previously in connection with the payout resulting from adealer's disqualifying low hand.

The progressive side wager may be resolved by evaluating the best fiveout of seven-card hand achieved by the player to determine whether thehand is of the predetermined progressive rank or higher. Thepredetermined progressive rank may be, for example, a straight, a flush,a four-of-a-kind, or a straight flush. If the hand achieved by theplayer is of the predetermined progressive rank or higher, a progressivepayout may be given to the player. The progressive payout for achievinga hand of the predetermined progressive rank may be, for example, afixed odds payout or a percentage of the progressive pot. In otherembodiments, the payout may be a fixed amount. Resolving the progressiveside wager may also comprise evaluating the best five out of seven-cardhand achieved by the player to determine whether the hand is a premiumhand. A greater progressive payout may be paid for achieving a premiumhand than merely for achieving the predetermined progressive rank. Forexample, achieving a hand of the predetermined progressive rank mayresult in a fixed odds payout being paid to the player, and achieving apremium hand may result in a percentage of the progressive pot beingpaid to the player. An illustrative paytable for the progressive payoutmay be as follows:

Hand Achieved by the Player Progressive Payout Seven-Card Straight Flush100% of the Progressive Pot (Premium Hand) Five Aces (Premium Hand) 10%of the Progressive Pot Royal Flush 500:1 Straight Flush 100:1Four-of-a-Kind  75:1 Full House  4:1Paying the progressive payout may be accomplished by performing any ofthe acts described previously in connection with the payout resultingfrom a dealer's disqualifying low hand. A rake may be taken on theprogressive payout in some embodiments.

The bad beat side wager may be resolved by examining each player's highhand and low hand and, in some embodiments, comparing them to the highhand and low hand of the dealer. When the player's high hand, low hand,or both high hand and low hand are of a predetermined bad beat rank orhigher, the player may be awarded a bat beat payout. In someembodiments, the player may only be eligible for the bad beat payout ifthe player achieves the predetermined bad beat rank or higher and stillloses to the dealer according to the rules for the ante wager. In otherembodiments, the player may only be eligible for the bad beat payout ifthe player achieves the predetermined bad beat rank or higher and winsagainst the dealer according to the rules of the ante wager. In someembodiments, whether a player win or a player loss renders the playereligible for the bad beat payout may depend on the particularpredetermined bad beat rank achieved by the player or on the differencein rank between the dealer's hands and the player's hands. Anillustrative paytable for the bad beat payout may be as follows:

Losing Hand Achieved Bad Beat Payout Straight Flush 10,000:1   Four-of-a-Kind 500:1  Full House 40:1 Flush 25:1 Straight 20:1Three-of-a-Kind  9:1Paying the bad beat payout may be accomplished by performing any of theacts described previously in connection with the payout resulting from adealer's disqualifying low hand.

As a specific, nonlimiting example, a method of administering a wageringgame may comprise: accepting an ante wager from each player on a game ofpai gow poker to be played against a dealer; dealing seven cards to eachplayer and the dealer, with which each player and the dealer ispermitted to form a two-card low hand and a five-card high hand; andresolving the ante wager, wherein resolving the ante wager comprisesreturning each ante wager to each player when the low hand held by thedealer is of a predetermined disqualifying rank.

As another specific, nonlimiting example, a method of administering awagering game may comprise: accepting an ante wager from each player ona game of pai gow poker to be played against a dealer by permitting eachplayer to place a chip within an ante wager position on a playingsurface of a table; dealing seven cards to each participating playerposition at the table and a dealer position, with which each playerand/or the dealer is permitted to form a two-card low hand and afive-card high hand by arranging two cards within a low-hand area andfive cards within a high-hand area on the table at each participatingplayer position and the dealer position; and resolving the ante wager,wherein resolving the ante wager comprises returning each ante wager toeach player by removing the chip from each ante wager position andreturning the chip to a respective player when the low hand held by thedealer is of a predetermined disqualifying rank.

Various platforms are contemplated that are suitable for implementationof embodiments of wagering games according to the present disclosure.For example, embodiments of wagering games may be implemented such thatwagers may be received from one or more players, and game play may beadministered with the one or more players according to the rules of thewagering games. For example, wagering games may be implemented on gamingtables, which may include physical gaming features, such as physicalcards and physical chips, and may include a live dealer and a shuffleror shoe. More specifically, a live dealer may deal physical cards,evaluate hands, accept wagers, accept player elections, issue payouts,and perform other administrative functions of game play. Someembodiments may be implemented on electronic devices enabling electronicgaming features, such as providing electronic displays for display ofvirtual cards, virtual chips, game instructions, paytables, etc. Someembodiments may include features that are a combination of physical andelectronic features.

As an example, embodiments of wagering games may be implemented on anindividual gaming device, such as a video poker machine, configured toaccept wagers and having a display screen and input devices for enablinggame play of the wagering games. Such an individual gaming device may belinked with other gaming devices that may be operated, for example, byother players. Some individual electronic gaming devices may be referredto as an individual player “electronic gaming machine” and may bestationary, such as being located on a casino floor. Other individualelectronic gaming devices may be portable devices that may be carried todifferent locations by the player. Portable devices may include bothdisplay of the ongoing game play and input reception for game play by aplayer. Portable devices may, alternatively or additionally, beconfigured for receiving input from a player while the game play isdisplayed on a public monitor or other display device. Game play andgame outcomes may also be displayed on a portable device.

As previously noted, any of the present methods and games may be playedas a live casino table card game, as a hybrid casino table card game(with virtual cards or virtual chips), on a multi-player electronicplatform (as disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/764,827,filed Jan. 26, 2004, published as U.S. Patent Application PublicationNo. 2005/0164759 on Jul. 28, 2005, now abandoned; U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/764,994, filed Jan. 26, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No.7,661,676, issued Feb. 16, 2010; and U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/764,995, filed Jan. 26, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,272,958, issuedSep. 25, 2012; the disclosure of each of which applications and patentsis incorporated herein in its entirety by this reference), on a personalcomputer for practice, on a hand-held game for practice, or on alegally-authorized site on the Internet.

For example, in one embodiment, the players may be remotely located froma live dealer, and a live dealer and a game table may be displayed toplayers on their monitors via a video feed. The players' video feeds maybe transmitted to the dealer and may also be shared among the players atthe table. In a sample embodiment, a central station may include aplurality of betting-type game devices and an electronic camera for eachgame device. A plurality of player stations, remotely located withrespect to the central station, may each include a monitor, fordisplaying a selected game device at the central station, and inputmeans, for selecting a game device and for placing a bet by a player atthe player's station relating to an action involving an element ofchance to occur at the selected game device. Further details on gamblingsystems and methods for remotely-located players are disclosed in U.S.Pat. No. 6,755,741 B1, issued Jun. 29, 2004, titled “Gambling GameSystem and Method for Remotely-Located Players,” the disclosure of whichis incorporated herein in its entirety by this reference, and inconnection with FIGS. 9 and 10.

Referring to FIG. 2, a diagram of a playing surface 108 forimplementation of the wagering games within the scope of the presentdisclosure is shown. Such an implementation may comprise a felt layouton a physical gaming table 400 (see FIG. 6) or an electronicrepresentation on a video display 374, 416, 430, 532, 564, 560, 620, or658 (see FIGS. 5 through 7 and 9) for each participating player position110 (see FIGS. 2 and 3). The playing surface 108 may include playerpositions 110 with which players may interact and a dealer position 112with which the dealer may interact and within each of which the activity(e.g., wagering and card dealing) may take place. The dealer position112 may include, for example, a high hand area 114 within which cardsforming the dealer's high hand may be located and a low hand area 116within which cards forming the dealer's low hand may be located.

Referring to FIG. 3, an enlarged diagram of one of the player positions110 of the playing surface 108 of FIG. 2 is shown. Each player position110 may include a high hand area 114 within which cards forming theplayer's high hand may be located and a low hand area 116 within whichcards forming the player's low hand may be located. Each player position110 may further include an ante wager position 118 within which chipsmay be placed or displayed when the ante wager is accepted. A bonus sidewager position 120 within which chips may be placed or displayed whenthe bonus side wager is accepted, a fortune side wager position 122within which chips may be placed or displayed when the fortune sidewager is accepted, a progressive side wager position 124 within whichchips may be placed or displayed when the progressive side wager isaccepted, and a bad beat side wager position 126 within which chips maybe placed or displayed when the bad beat side wager is accepted may alsobe included in each player position 110.

In some embodiments, the wagering games described herein may be playedagainst the game administrator, i.e., “the house” (i.e., be“house-banked”), which may involve the game administrator (e.g., acasino or other gaming establishment) receiving (via a dealer who may beemployed by the administrator) wagers having real-world monetary value,comparing a player hand against a dealer hand, distributing payoutshaving real-world monetary value to winning players, and retaining lostwagers. For example, and referring collectively to FIGS. 2 and 3, thecasino or other gaming establishment, acting as the dealer, may acceptan ante wager from each player, which may be reflected by the presenceof a chip or an image of a chip in the ante wager position 118 in theplayer positions 110 of each participating player. The casino or othergaming establishment may also accept any bonus side wagers, fortune sidewagers, progressive side wagers, and bad beat wagers that players electto make, which may be reflected by the presence of a chip or an image ofa chip in the bonus side wager position 120, the fortune side wagerposition 122, progressive side wager position 124, and bad beat wagerposition 126.

The casino or other gaming establishment may deal seven cards to eachplayer and to the dealer, which may be reflected by the presence ofcards or images of cards in the player positions 110 and the dealerposition 112. The players may arrange their cards into their chose highhand and low hand configurations, which may be reflected by thearrangement of five cards or five images of cards into the high handarea 114 and two cards or two images of cards into the low hand area 116of each participating player position 110. The player may request theassistance of the dealer in setting the player hands. The casino orother gaming establishment may arrange its cards into the high hand andlow hand configurations required by the house way, which may bereflected by the arrangement of five cards or five images of cards intothe high hand area 114 and two cards or two images of cards into the lowhand area 116 of the dealer position 112.

After the casino or other gaming establishment has set its high and lowhands, the low hand may be evaluated to determine whether it is of apredetermined disqualifying rank. For example, the dealer's low hand maybe evaluated to determine whether it is a nine high. If it is a ninehigh, the ante wager may be returned to each player and any players whomade the bonus side wager in area 120 may receive a bonus payout of30:1. If the dealer's low hand is not a nine high, the ante wager may beresolved by comparing the high hand of each player to the high hand ofthe dealer and the low hand of each player to the low hand of thedealer. If both player hands outrank the dealer's hands, a 1:1 payoutmay be given to the player. If one of the player hands outranks thecorresponding dealer hand and the other player hand is outranked by thecorresponding dealer hand, the ante wager may be returned to the player.If both player hands are outranked by the dealer's hands the ante wagermay be collected by the casino or other gaming establishment. When thedealer's hand is not ranked nine high, any bonus side wagers may becollected by the casino or other gaming establishment.

Any fortune wagers may be resolved by comparing a best five-card handformed from the seven dealt cards, or the player's high hand or theplayer's seven-card hand to a paytable and awarding any correspondingfortune payout if the player achieves one of the predetermined winningfortune hand ranks. If the player does not achieve one of thepredetermined winning fortune hand ranks, the fortune wager may becollected by the casino or other gaming establishment. If one playerholds a best five-card hand (or high hands, or seven-card hands) thatmeets the minimum envy ranking, all other players who bet the thresholdamount (or more) win an envy bonus.

Any progressive wagers may be resolved by comparing the player's highhand or seven-card hand to a paytable and any corresponding progressivepayout, less any rake retained by the casino or other gamingestablishment, may be awarded if the player achieves one of thepredetermined progressive hand ranks. If the player does not achieve oneof the predetermined progressive hand ranks, the progressive wager maybe added to a progressive pot. Any bad beat wagers may be resolved bycomparing the player's high hand, low hand, or both high hand and lowhand to a paytable and any corresponding bad beat payout may be awardedif the player achieves one of the predetermined bad beat hand ranks andthe player lost or would have lost to the dealer on the ante wager. Ifthe player does not achieve one of the predetermined bad beat hands orwins or would have won the ante wager, the bad beat wager may becollected by the casino or other gaming establishment. Such“house-banked” embodiments may be implemented in the form of a livetable game, in a virtual table game, in an electronic game, or in anonline game configuration.

In other embodiments, the wagering games, or at least one wagerassociated with the wagering game, may qualify players to play againstone another (i.e., be “player-banked”), with payouts on wagers beingpaid from a pot and losses on wagers being collected into the pot andeventually distributed to one or more players. Such player-bankedembodiments may include a player-pooled progressive embodiment, in whicha pot is eventually distributed when a predetermined progressive-winninghand combination or composition is dealt. Player-banked embodiments mayalso include a dividend refund embodiment, in which all or a portion ofthe pot is eventually distributed in the form of a refund distributed,e.g., pro-rata, to the players who contributed to the pot.

Referring to FIG. 4, shown is a flowchart diagram of a method 200 ofadministering a wagering game, which may be at least partiallyplayer-banked, according to a player-pooled progressive embodiment. Thisformat of play is well suited for electronic play and in particular,online play in jurisdictions that permit the play of “poker.” The method200 includes accepting a first mandatory wager, referred to herein as a“poker pot wager,” as indicated at operation 202. At least a portion ofthe poker pot wager is added to a poker pot, as indicated at operation203. The poker pot wager may be later resolved by comparing player handsto other player hands and awarding the poker pot, or at least a portionthereof, to the player with, for example, the highest-ranked high hand,low hand, or high and low hands during a round of play. In one example,only players playing at a single table contribute to the poker pot.

The poker pot may be a non-progressive pot in that all or substantiallyall of the poker pot may be distributed at the conclusion of each roundof administration of the wagering game. In some embodiments, the pokerpot wager may be a mandatory wager to qualify the player for play of theunderlying wagering game. In other embodiments, the poker pot wager maybe optional, and the wagering game may be administered with a playerwithout receiving the poker pot wager and without qualifying the playerfor a potential payout from the poker pot.

The dealer may also accept at least one game wager, as indicated atoperation 204. The game wagers may include, for example, a base gamewager (e.g., ante wagers, blind wagers, play wagers, raises, and otherwagers made on the underlying wagering game) and/or one or more sidewagers. More specifically, the game wagers may comprise, for example,the ante wager, the bonus side wager, the fortune side wager, or anycombination of these wagers. The at least one game wager may beaccepted, for example, by performing any of the acts describedpreviously in connection with FIG. 1. At least a portion of the at leastone game wager is added to a game pot, as indicated at operation 205.

Optionally, a third pot wager may be accepted and added to at least athird pot. The third pot may be separate from either or both of thepoker pot and the game pot. For example, the poker pot, the game pot,and the third pot may include chips located in separate areas on agaming table, when the wagering game is conducted live in a casino. Asanother example, the poker pot, the game pot, and the third pot may bedisplayed as separate amounts on one or more video displays 374, 404,414, 418, 430, 532, 560, 564, and 658 (see FIGS. 6 through 8 and 10)(e.g., a monitor) controlled by one or more of processors 350, 414, 428,597, and 642 (see FIGS. 6 through 8 and 10) and may be maintained inseparate accounts when the wagering game is conducted online or inanother electronic format.

In some embodiments, acceptance of the at least one game wager qualifiesa player to be eligible to win an award in addition to the payoutsavailable from the underlying game (i.e., the disqualification, bonus,ante, fortune, envy, and bad beat payouts), such as, for example, aprogressive payout (e.g., a progressive jackpot awarded to one or morequalifying players). Therefore, in such embodiments, a progressive wagermay be received, as one of the at least one game wagers, in addition tothe other game wagers received from the player, such as the fortune sidewager, the progressive side wager, the bad beat side wager, a separatepot side wager, or any combination of these wagers.

In some embodiments, the progressive wager may be a mandatory wager toqualify the player for play of the underlying wagering game. In otherembodiments, the progressive wager may be optional, and the wageringgame may be administered without receiving the progressive wager, inaddition to the other game wagers, from the player and withoutqualifying the player to be eligible to win the progressive payout fromthe game pot.

In some embodiments, the poker pot wager and the at least one game wagermay be received as indistinct wagers, with a portion thereof beingdesignated for the poker pot (a non-progressive pot) and another portionbeing designated for the game pot (a progressive pot).

The poker pot wager and the at least one game wager (including theprogressive wager, depending on the embodiment) may be accepted, forexample, by performing any of the acts described previously inconnection with FIG. 1.

In some embodiments, the game pot may be a pooled or linked pot. Forexample, the game pot may include one or more game wagers accepted frommultiple concurrent wagering games. As another example, the game pot mayinclude pooled progressive wagers from those wagering games currentlybeing played and/or may include accumulated game wagers from pastwagering games. As specific, nonlimiting examples, the game pot mayinclude all game wagers accepted from a group of tables or localwagering game administration devices at a casino, from multiple groupsof remote devices connected to a network gaming architecture, or both.In other embodiments, the game pot may not be pooled, and awards for thegame wager may be limited to the amounts wagered at a respective table,local wagering game administration device, or group of remote devices.

The gaming establishment (e.g., the “house”) may take a “rake,” (e.g., acommission for the house) on at least one wager, such as the poker potwager, as indicated at operation 206, the at least one game wager, asindicated at operation 207, or both. In some embodiments, therefore, arake may be taken on all wagers, or any wager. For example, the housemay collect a portion of the poker pot wager at the time the poker potwager is placed or may collect a portion of amounts awarded from thepoker pot at the time the poker pot or a portion of the poker pot isawarded. Additionally or alternatively, the house may collect a portionof the game wagers at the time the game wagers are placed or may collecta portion of amounts awarded from the game pot at the time the game potor a portion of the game pot is awarded.

The rake may comprise, for example, a fixed percentage of the wagers.More specifically, the percentage of the wagers collected for the rakemay be, for example, greater than a theoretical house advantage for theunderlying game. As another example, the rake may be less than anaverage house advantage for play of the wagering game by all players,including average and sub-average players, which may be calculated usinga historical house advantage for the wagering game (e.g., a houseadvantage for the wagering game over the last 5, 10, or 15 years for agiven casino or other gaming establishment). As specific, nonlimitingexamples, the percentage of the wagers (i.e., either or both of thepoker pot wager and the at least one game wager) collected for the rakemay be between 3% and 8%, between 4% and 7%, or between 5% and 6%. Inother embodiments, the portion of the wagers collected for the rake maycomprise a variable percentage of the wagers or may comprise a fixedquantity (e.g., a flat fee) irrespective of the total amount for thewagers, a fixed percentage with a cap, or a time-based fee forincrements of time playing the wagering game. Thus, in lieu of, or inaddition to, a rake taken on one or more wagers or from winnings, thehouse may be compensated in a number of other ways, including, withoutlimitation, a flat fee per round of play, a percentage of wagers madewith or without a cap, rental of a player “seat,” or otherwise as isknown in the gaming art. All such compensation may be generally referredto as a “commission.”

All profits for the house may be made from the rake (or rakes or othercommission) in some player-banked embodiments. In such embodiments,wagers in excess of the rake are distributed either in the form of, forexample, a progressive payout (as in a “player-pooled progressive”embodiment (FIG. 4)), a dividend refund (as in a “dividend refund”embodiment (FIG. 5)), or some combination thereof. Thus, the profits forthe house are limited. Such limiting of profits for the house andredistribution of wagers back to one or more players may increase theattractiveness of the wagering game to both inexperienced and highlyskilled players. Because the amount earned by the house is known, highlyskilled players may perceive that their skill will enable them toincrease winnings, and inexperienced players may be enticed by thepossibility of winning or otherwise earning a portion or all of one ormore of the pots. In other embodiments, the house may make profits onthe rake and on losses from one or more of the wagers (e.g., the antewager, the bonus side wager, the fortune side wager, the progressiveside wager, and the bad beat wager), including losses resulting fromoptimal and suboptimal play.

The rake may be maintained in a rake account, and profits for the housemay be deducted from the rake account. When and if taken from the pokerpot wagers, the poker pot rake (operation 206) may be taken by, forexample, electronically transferring funds from the poker pot wagers orthe poker pot itself to a poker pot rake account (e.g., as instructed bya game server 606 (see FIG. 9) using casino account servers 610 (seeFIG. 9)) or physically removing or exchanging money or representationsof money from the poker pot wagers or the poker pot itself on a livetable. Likewise, when and if taken from the game wagers, the game potrake (operation 207) may be taken by, e.g., electronically transferringfunds from the game pot wagers or the game pot itself to a game pot rakeaccount (e.g., as instructed by the game server 606 (see FIG. 9) usingcasino account servers 610 (see FIG. 9)) or physically removing orexchanging money or representations of money from the game wagers or thegame pot itself on a live table.

In some embodiments, the poker pot wager may be accepted (operation 202)at the beginning of a round of administration of the wagering game. Oneor more of the game wagers may be accepted (operation 204) at thebeginning of the round as well, e.g., the ante wager, the bonus sidewager, the fortune side wager, the progressive side wager, and the badbeat wager. In some embodiments, additional game wagers may be accepted(operation 204) during game play, possibly raked (operation 207), andadded to the game pot (operation 205) in the intermediate segments ofthe round of play, e.g., any play wagers, raises, etc.

The underlying wagering game may be played as described above, includingresolving the game wagers received during the round of play, asindicated at operation 208. For example, the underlying wagering gamemay be played at least substantially as described previously inconnection with FIGS. 1 through 3, including accepting wagers, dealingcards, and selecting high and low hands. Payouts to be distributed as aresult of resolving the game wagers (e.g., the ante wager, the bonusside wager, the fortune side wager, or any combination of these wagers)are paid from the game pot.

It is contemplated that only a portion of the game pot may bedistributed, at operation 208, in the form of odds payouts on theunderlying game. At least in embodiments in which the game pot isconfigured as a progressive pot (e.g., if one of the game wagers is aprogressive wager), all or substantially all of the remaining portion ofthe game pot may be designated for a potential progressive payout. Forexample, administering the player-pooled progressive embodiment of theplayer-banked method 200 may include determining whether aprogressive-winning condition has occurred, as indicated at operation210. A progressive-winning condition may be predefined as apredetermined winning hand combination being dealt or a premium winninghand composition being dealt. If such a progressive-winning conditionhas occurred during the round of game administration, a progressivepayout may be awarded to the winning-hand-holding player, with theprogressive payout being paid from the game pot, as indicated atoperation 212. As just one example, a game may pay a progressive payoutto a player holding a high hand or a seven-card hand of a straight orhigher, a flush or higher, four-of-a-kind or higher, or a straight flushor higher. If no progressive-winning condition has occurred, aprogressive payout may not be paid from the game pot, but, rather, thegame pot balance may be carried forward for the next round of play andso on, as indicated at operation 214, until a progressive-winningcondition occurs during a subsequent round. Thus, the game pot may notbe awarded at the end of each round of play, but may grow during eachsuccessive round in which no player is dealt a predetermined winninghand combination or a premium winning hand composition. However, if theunderlying game payouts distributed at operation 208, or if aprogressive payout is awarded at operation 212, without draining thegame pot, the game pot may decrement until such time as the game potcontributions, at operation 205, rebuild the game pot.

A predetermined winning hand combination may comprise, for example, afour-of-a-kind, a full house, a flush, a straight, a three-of-a-kind,two pair, or one pair. The hands qualifying as new winning handcombinations may be predetermined at the beginning of each round of playin some embodiments. In other embodiments, new winning hand combinationsmay be predetermined at the beginning of play and may remain fixed untilit is determined that at least one player hand achieves a predeterminedwinning hand combination, at which time new winning hand combinationsmay be predetermined. In still other embodiments, the hand combinationsqualifying as winning hand combinations may be predetermined at theoutset of the wagering game and remain fixed for the duration of thewagering game. The hands qualifying as winning hand combinations may bepredetermined at random from a list of possible winning handcombinations, from among a schedule with a fixed rotation of possiblewinning hand combinations, or using a fixed table of winning handcombinations.

A premium winning hand composition may comprise, for example, aseven-card straight flush, or a five-card royal flush plus a royalmatch. The hand compositions qualifying as premium winning handcompositions may remain fixed throughout the duration of the wageringgame or may change during the wagering game. For example, after it hasbeen determined that a player hand has achieved a premium winning handcomposition, the hand compositions qualifying as premium winning handcompositions may be made more restrictive or less restrictive. As aspecific, nonlimiting example, after identification of a player handachieving a seven-card straight flush, the hand compositions qualifyingas premium winning hand compositions may be restricted to royal flushesor may be expanded to include four-of-a-kinds or other hands. The handsqualifying as premium winning hand compositions may be predetermined atrandom from a list of possible premium winning hand compositions,following a schedule with a fixed rotation of possible premium winninghand compositions, or according to a fixed table of premium winning handcompositions.

In embodiments in which the game pot is a progressive pot, the amountawarded from the game pot for achieving a premium winning handcomposition may be a progressive payout at least as great as a maximumprogressive payout for achieving a predetermined winning handcomposition. For example, the entire game pot may be awarded when aplayer or multiple players are dealt a premium winning hand composition,and only a portion of the game pot may be awarded when a player ormultiple players are dealt a predetermined winning hand combination.

Awarding the game pot or a portion of the game pot may comprisecrediting a player account with funds from the game pot or may comprisedistributing physical money or physical representations of money fromthe game pot to the player.

Before, between, or after resolving the game wagers (operation 208),determining whether a progressive-winning condition occurred (operation210), awarding a progressive payout (operation 212), or any combinationthereof, the poker pot wager may be resolved, and the poker pot may beawarded to at least one player, as indicated at operation 216. Eachsuccessive round of receiving wagers, dealing cards, and resolvingwagers may constitute a round of play, and the poker pot may be awardedto at least one player before the end of each round of play. The playerto whom the poker pot is awarded may hold a, highest-ranked high hand,highest-ranked low hand, or highest-ranked high and low hands whencompared to the hands of the other players at the table.

Awarding the poker pot or the portion of the poker pot may comprisecrediting a player account of each winning player or may comprisedistributing physical money or physical representations of money to eachwinning player.

In some embodiments, an entire amount of the poker pot may be awarded toat least one player before the end of each round of play. In suchembodiments, the poker pot may be a non-progressive pot. Awarding theentire poker pot to at least one player at the end of each round of playmay enable an online implementation of the wagering game to qualify as alegal form of online gambling under relevant statutes. For example, ingames that require player vs. player play, and providing a mandatorypoker pot bet, the game may qualify as “poker” to gaming authorities,especially for online versions of the games. Awarding the entire amountof a poker pot to at least one player at the end of each round of playredistributes lost poker wagers attributable to suboptimal play to otherplayers, rather than to the house. Accordingly, such a wagering game maybe particularly attractive to players who perceive themselves as beinghighly skilled in the wagering game and, therefore, more able to takeadvantage of suboptimal play by other players.

In some embodiments, the entire poker pot may be awarded to at least oneplayer at the end of each round of play (operation 216). Providing apoker pot wager and payout in each round of play may enable the wageringgame to qualify as a legal form of online poker play under relevantstatutes. The rake taken may comprise, for example, between 1% and 8%,between 2% and 6%, or between 3% and 5% of the first wager. The rakeamounts on each wager may be more than, less than, or equal to the raketaken on other wagers in some embodiments.

In still other embodiments, a portion of the value of the poker pot mayremain in the poker pot or may be redistributed to another pot (e.g.,the game pot) to be awarded in a subsequent round of play as aprogressive payout or as a dividend refund (see FIG. 5). In such anexample, the portion of the poker pot wager remaining in the poker potor redistributed to another pot may comprise, for example, a fixedpercentage of the poker pot wager, a variable percentage of the pokerpot wager (e.g., an odds payout may be awarded and the remainderretained in the poker pot or redistributed to the other pot), or a fixedamount.

In some embodiments involving a no-house-advantage poker pot awarded atthe end of each round and a progressive game pot that receives all othergame wagers, all players participating in the wagering game from whomthe at least one game wager has been received may be eligible to win thepoker pot or a portion of the poker pot.

In some embodiments, the game pot may be seeded with money from the gamepot rake account or a reserve account (as indicated at operation 218) atthe beginning of play, after the game pot or a portion of the game pothas been awarded, or both. In some embodiments, a minimum accountbalance sufficient to cover expected losses is retained whendistributing a progressive payout (operation 212) such that no seedmoney is required in the game pot. For example, the game pot may beseeded from the rake account of the house (operation 218), and the housemay maintain an amount of funds in the rake account sufficient tosignificantly reduce (e.g., to essentially eliminate) the likelihoodthat any payouts made from the rake account and any seeding amountswithdrawn from the rake account exhaust or overdraw the rake account. Insome embodiments, a casino reserve account may be provided to fill therake account in the event of an overdraw. Such seeding may incentivizeplayers to participate in the wagering game, and specifically to place agame wager (e.g., a progressive wager) to be eligible for theprogressive payout from the game pot. In addition, such seeding mayreduce the likelihood that the amount of funds in the game pot may beinsufficient to cover all the payouts to players. For example, where aplayer hand achieves a premium winning hand composition in one round ofplay, a player hand achieves a predetermined winning hand combination inthe immediately following round of play, and a fixed odds payout is tobe awarded to the player holding the predetermined winning handcombination, the amount seeded to the game pot between those rounds ofplay may be at least as great as the maximum fixed odds payout awardablefor any predetermined winning hand combination. The game pot may beseeded each time the game pot is awarded in its entirety or each timethe amount in the game pot is lower than the maximum fixed odds payout.

As a specific, nonlimiting example, a player-banked wagering game with aplayer-pooled progressive configuration may comprise designating aplayer to act as the dealer and accepting a player-banked ante wagerfrom each player and adding the player-banked ante wagers to aplayer-banked pot which may be reflected by the presence of the chips orimages of the chips grouped together with one another on the playingsurface 108. The player-banked pot may be a no-house-advantage pot thatis awarded to the player holding the highest-ranking high and low handsat the end of each round of play. Any bonus side wagers may also beaccepted, which may be reflected by the presence of a chip or an imageof a chip in the bonus side wager position 120 or by adding the chip orimage of a chip to the player-banked pot. Any fortune side wagers,progressive side wagers, and bad beat wagers may also be accepted andadded to the same pot, which may be reflected by the presence of a chipor an image of a chip in the fortune side wager position 122,progressive side wager position 124, and bad beat wager position 126 orby the presence of chips or image of chips in a second pot area on theplaying surface 108, which may correspond to one or more of the fortuneside wager and the progressive side wager.

Seven cards may be dealt to each player and to the dealer, which may bereflected by the presence of cards or images of cards in the playerpositions 110 and the dealer position 112. The players may arrange theircards into their chosen high hand and low hand configurations, which maybe reflected by the arrangement of five cards or five images of cardsinto the high hand area 114 and two cards or two images of cards intothe low hand area 116 of each participating player position 110. Thecards dealt to the player acting as the dealer may be arranged into thehigh hand and low hand configurations required by the house way, whichmay be reflected by the arrangement of five cards or five images ofcards into the high hand area 114 and two cards or two images of cardsinto the low hand area 116 of the dealer position 112.

After the dealer's high and low hands have been arranged, the dealer'slow hand may be evaluated to determine whether it is of a predetermineddisqualifying rank. For example, the dealer's low hand may be evaluatedto determine whether it is a nine high. If it is a nine high, one-halfof the amount of the ante wagers may be returned to each player and anyplayers who made the bonus side wager may receive a bonus payout fromthe player-banked pot of 30:1. If the dealer's low hand is not a ninehigh, the ante wager may be resolved by comparing the high hand of eachplayer to the high hands of the other players and the dealer and the lowhand of each player to the low hands of the other players the dealer.The player holding the highest ranked high hand, the highest ranked lowhand, or the highest ranked hand and low hand may be awarded the entireplayer-banked pot. When the dealer's hand is not ranked nine high, anybonus side wagers may remain in the player-banked pot.

In some embodiments, any fortune wagers may be resolved by comparing theplayer's best five-card out of seven-card hand to a paytable andawarding any corresponding fortune payout if the player achieves one ofthe predetermined fortune hand ranks. If the player does not achieve oneof the predetermined fortune hand ranks, the fortune wager may remain inthe pot or retained in a separate progressive fortune pot, which may beawarded, less a rake, to a player when a player achieves one of thepredetermined fortune hand ranks. If the amount of the fortune wager isgreater than the threshold amount, the best five-card hands held by theother players may be compared to the paytable, and a corresponding envypayout may be awarded to any of the other players holding a premiumhand.

In some embodiments, the game may allow a separate optional progressivewager that awards a progressive payout for a premium hand, such as aseven-card royal flush. Any progressive wagers may be resolved bycomparing the player's hand to a paytable. A progressive payout may beawarded if the player achieves one of the predetermined winningprogressive hand ranks. If the player does not achieve one of thepredetermined progressive hand ranks, the progressive wager may bemaintained in a progressive pot.

Referring to FIG. 5, shown is a flowchart diagram of a method 220 ofadministering a wagering game, which may be at least partiallyplayer-banked, according to a dividend refund embodiment. The method 220is largely the same as the method 200 of the player-pooled progressive(FIG. 4), with the exception that, rather than determining whether aprogressive-winning condition has occurred (operation 210 (FIG. 4)), themethod 220 includes determining whether a trigger event condition hasoccurred, as indicated at operation 222, and, if so, distributing thegame pot to one or more past or present players of the wagering game, asindicated at operation 224 (rather than distributing the game pot as aprogressive payout as at operation 212 (FIG. 4)). In such embodiment,the game pot may accumulate between rounds of play, and, to periodicallyreduce the balance, a dividend (e.g., a share of the game pot awarded toeach participating player) may be awarded to players from the game pot.Thus, wagered amounts that would otherwise be the profits from lostwagers, less amounts raked by the house, are redistributed back to theplayers, rather than collected by the house as revenue. Thus, thedistribution is not a payout on the underlying game, but a refund.

The game pot, less any game pot rake taken, may be distributed among aplurality of players upon the occurrence of a predetermined event(referred to herein as a “trigger event”), as indicated at operation222. The predetermined, trigger event may not be based, for example, onplayer skill or chance events occurring in the underlying wagering game.The predetermined trigger event may comprise, for example, determinationthat at least one player participated for a predetermined number ofhands; at least one player completed a predetermined number of rounds ofplay at a given table, electronic gaming machine, or remote gamingdevice; a predetermined number of rounds of play have been completed byany number of players at a given table, electronic gaming machine, orremote gaming device; a predetermined time limit has been reached sinceplay commenced; or a predetermined amount has accumulated within thegame pot. The predetermined trigger event or condition may betime-based, pot-based (or pool-based), game-based, or based on someother nonchance aspect of the wagering game. Further details on potdistributions based on predetermined trigger events and conditions aredisclosed in the U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/871,824, filed Apr.26, 2013, titled “Distributing Supplemental Pot in Wagering Games Basedon Predetermined Event,” the disclosure of which is incorporated hereinin its entirety by this reference.

The dividend distributions may be divided at least among playerscurrently participating in the wagering game. In some embodiments, thedividend distributions may also be paid to players who previouslycontributed to the game pot but who have since ceased participating inthe wagering game. In some embodiments, the dividend distributions maynot be paid to players from whom contributions to the game pot have notbeen received since the last dividend distribution was paid. Thepercentage of the game pot, less the rake, refunded to each player as adividend distribution may be, for example, approximately equal to thepercentage of hands won by each player, the percentage of first potwinnings won by each player based on game play, the percentage of totalwager amounts received from each player, the proportional number ofwagers received from each player, the proportional length of time spentplaying the wagering game by each player, or an equal percentage foreach player eligible to receive a dividend distribution from the gamepot.

The dividend refund may be distributed in the form of a credit made tothe receiving players' accounts. In some embodiments, the refund may bepaid without concurrently alerting the player, though the refund may benoticeable when and if the player next checks his or her balance in herplayer account.

In some embodiments, wagering games may be administered without playersrisking money in connection with the wagers (i.e., “play-for-fun”games). Access to play-for-fun wagering games may be granted on a timeperiod basis in some embodiments. For example, upon initially joiningthe wagering game, each player may automatically be given a plurality ofwagering elements, such as, for example, chips, points, or simulatedcurrency, that is of no redeemable value. After joining, the player maybe permitted to place bets using the wagering elements and a timer maytrack how long the player has been participating in the wagering game.If the player exhausts his or her supply of the wagering elements beforea predetermined period of time has expired, the player may be permittedto simply wait until the period of time passes to rejoin the game, atwhich time another quantity of the wagering elements may be distributedto the player to permit the player to resume participation in thewagering game.

In some embodiments, a hierarchy of players may determine the quantityof wagering elements given to a player for each predetermined period oftime. For example, players who have been participating in the wageringgame for a longer time, who have played closest to optimal strategy forthe game, who have won the largest percentage of wagers, who havewagered the most in a play-for-pay environment, or who have won thelargest quantities of wagering elements from their wagers may be givenmore wagering elements for each allotment of time than players who havenewly joined, who have played for a lesser amount of time, who haveplayed according to poor strategy, who have lost more frequently, or whohave lost larger quantities of wagering elements. In some embodiments,the hierarchy of players may determine the duration of each allotment oftime. For example, players who have been participating in the wageringgame for a longer time, who have played closest to optimal strategy forthe game, who have won the largest percentage of wagers, or who have wonthe largest quantities of wagering elements from their wagers may begiven shorter allotments of times to wait for an award of more wageringelements than players who have newly joined, who have played accordingto poor strategy, who have lost more frequently, or who have lost largerquantities of wagering elements. In some embodiments, players who havenot run out of wagering elements after the period of time has expiredmay have the balance of their wagering elements reset for a subsequentallotment of time. In other embodiments, players who have not run out ofwagering elements may be allowed to retain their remaining wageringelements for subsequent allotments of time, and may be given additionalwagering elements corresponding to the new allotment of time to furtherincrease the balance of wagering elements at their disposal. Players maybe assigned to different categories of players, which determine thenumber of wagering elements awarded. In a given period of time, higherlevel players, or players who have invested more time playing the gamemay be allotted more wagering elements per unit of time than a playerassigned to a lower level group.

Therefore, in some embodiments, the wagering game may be administered byreceiving wagers (e.g., the ante wager, the bonus side wager, thefortune side wager, the progressive side wager, and the bad beat wager)of no real-world monetary value, and payouts (e.g., disqualification,bonus, ante, fortune, envy, and bad beat payouts) may be paid withouttransferring real-world monetary value to the players. Such embodiments,referred to herein as “free play-for-fun” embodiments are nonethelesscontemplated as modes of carrying out the methods described herein.

In some embodiments, referred to herein as “social play-for-fun”embodiments, a player may be permitted to redeem an access token of noredeemable face value, such as, for example, points associated with aplayer account (e.g., social media account credits, online pointsassociated with a transacting account, etc.), to compress the period oftime and receive more wagering elements. The access tokens may be soldor may be given without directly exchanging money for the access tokens.For example, access tokens may be allocated to players who participatein member events (e.g., complete surveys, receive training on how toplay the wagering game, share information about the wagering game withothers), spend time participating in the wagering game or in a playeraccount forum (e.g., logged in to a social media account), or viewadvertising. Thus, an entity administering social play-for-fun wageringgames may not receive money from losing player wagers or may not take arake on wagers, but may receive compensation through advertising revenueor through the purchase of access tokens redeemable for timecompressions to continue play of the wagering game or simply to increasethe quantity of wagering elements available to a player.

After receipt of an indication that a player has stopped participatingin a play-for-fun wagering game (e.g., a free play-for-fun embodiment, asocial play-for-fun embodiment), any remaining quantities of thewagering elements may be relinquished by the player and in someembodiments, retained for later play. For example, receipt of anindication that the player has logged out of a play-for-fun wageringgame administered over the Internet may cause any remaining wageringelements associated with a respective player to be lost. Thus, when theplayer rejoins the play-for-fun wagering game, the quantity of wageringelements given to the player for an allotment of time may not bear anyrelationship to the quantity of wagering elements held by the playerwhen he or she quit playing a previous session of the wagering game. Inother embodiments, upon receipt of an indication that a player hasstopped playing, the quantity of wagering elements held by the player atthat time may be retained and made available to the player, along withany additional quantities of wagering elements granted for newallotments of time, upon receipt of an indication that the player hasrejoined the wagering game.

As a specific, nonlimiting example, a free play-for-fun wagering gamemay involve granting access to a quantity of valueless wagering elementsusable within a predetermined time period to each player. Each playermay allocate at least one valueless wagering element to an ante wager.Seven cards may be allocated to each player and a dealer. Each playermay arrange their cards into their chosen high hand and low handconfigurations. The player may receive assistance from a virtual dealerin setting his or her high and low hands. A house way of arranging cardsallocated to the dealer may be applied to arrange the cards into a highhand and a low hand configuration. The dealer's low hand may beevaluated to determine whether it is of a predetermined disqualifyingrank. When the dealer's low hand is of the predetermined disqualifyingrank, each ante wager may be returned to each player. When the dealer'slow hand is not of the predetermined disqualifying rank, the ante wagermay be resolved by comparing the high hand and the low hand of eachplayer to the high hand and the low hand of the dealer. A valuelessaccess token may be redeemed by a player who has exhausted the quantityof valueless wagering elements or the predetermined time period maylapse for a player who has exhausted the quantity of valueless wageringelements and access to another quantity of valueless wagering elementsusable within another predetermined time period may be granted to theplayer.

Referring to FIG. 6, illustrated is an example of an individualelectronic gaming device 300 (e.g., an electronic gaming machine (EGM))configured for implementation of embodiments of wagering games accordingto the present disclosure. The individual electronic gaming device 300may include an individual player position 314 that includes a playerinput area 332 configured to enable a player to interact with theindividual electronic gaming device 300 through various input devices(not shown). The individual electronic gaming device 300 may include agaming screen 374 configured to display indicia for interacting with theindividual electronic gaming device 300, such as through processing oneor more programs stored in memory 340 to implement the rules of gameplay at the individual electronic gaming device 300. Accordingly, gameplay may be accommodated without involving physical playing cards, pokerchips, and/or live personnel. The action may instead be simulated by acontrol processor 350 operably coupled to the memory 340 and interactingwith and controlling the individual electronic gaming device 300.

Although the figure has an outline of a traditional gaming cabinet, theindividual electronic gaming device 300 may be implemented in any numberof ways, including, but not limited to, client software downloaded to aportable device, such as a smart phone, tablet, or laptop personalcomputer. The individual electronic gaming device 300 may also be anon-portable personal computer (e.g., a desktop or all-in-one computer)or other computing device. In some embodiments, client software is notdownloaded but is native to the device or is otherwise delivered withthe device when distributed to a player.

A communication device 360 may be included and operably coupled to theprocessor such that information related to operation of the individualgaming device 300, information related to the game play, or combinationsthereof may be communicated between the individual gaming device 300 andother devices (not shown) through a suitable communication media, such,as, for example, wired networks, Wi-Fi networks, and cellularcommunication networks.

The gaming screen 374 may be carried by a generally vertically extendingcabinet 376 of the individual electronic gaming device 300. Theindividual electronic gaming device 300 may further include banners (notshown) configured to communicate rules of game play and/or the like,such as along a top portion 378 of the cabinet 376 of the individualelectronic gaming device 300. The individual electronic gaming device300 may further include additional decorative lights (not shown), andspeakers (not shown) for transmitting and/or receiving sounds duringgame play. Further detail of an example of an individual electronicgaming device 300 (as well as other embodiments of tables and devices)is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/215,156, filed Aug.22, 2011, published as U.S. Patent Publication No. 2013/0053117 on Feb.28, 2013, and titled “Methods of Managing Play of Wagering Games andSystems for Managing Play of Wagering Games,” the disclosure of which isincorporated herein in its entirety by this reference.

Some embodiments may be implemented at locations that include aplurality of player stations. Such player stations may include anelectronic display screen for display of game information, such asdisplaying virtual cards, virtual chips, and game instructions, and foraccepting wagers and facilitating credit balance adjustments. Suchplayer stations may, optionally, be integrated in a table format, may bedistributed throughout a casino or other gaming site, or may includeboth grouped and distributed player stations. While some features may beautomated through electronic interfaces (e.g., virtual cards, virtualchips, etc.), some features may remain in the physical domain. As such,the game play may be administered by a live dealer, a virtual dealer, ora combination of both.

Referring to FIG. 7, an example of a suitable table 400 configured forimplementation of embodiments of wagering games according to the presentdisclosure is shown. The table 400 may include a playing surface 404.The table 400 may include a plurality of player stations 412 a through412 g. Each player station 412 a through 412 g may include a playerinterface 416 a through 416 g, which may be used for displaying gameinformation (e.g., game instructions, input options, wager informationincluding virtual chips, game outcomes, etc.). The player interface 416a through 416 g may include a display screen in the form of a touchscreen, which may be at least substantially flush with the playingsurface 404 in some embodiments. Each player interface 416 a through 416g may be coupled respectively with its own local game processor 414 athrough 414 g (shown in dashed lines), although, in some embodiments, acentral game processor 428 (shown in dashed lines) may be employed andmay communicate directly to player interfaces 416 a through 416 g. Insome embodiments, a combination of individual local game processors 414a through 414 g and the central game processor 428 may be employed.

A communication device 460 may be included and may be operably coupledto one or more of the local game processors 414, the central gameprocessor 428, or combinations thereof, such that information related tooperation of the table 400, information related to the game play, orcombinations thereof may be communicated between the table 400 and otherdevices (not shown) through a suitable communication media, such as, forexample, wired networks, Wi-Fi networks, and cellular communicationnetworks.

The table 400 may further include additional features, such as a dealerchip tray 420, which may be used by the dealer to cash players in andout of the wagering game, whereas wagers and balance adjustments duringgame play may be performed using virtual chips. For embodiments usingphysical cards 406 a,406 b, the table 400 may further include acard-handling device 422 that may be configured to shuffle, read, anddeliver physical cards for the dealer and players to use during gameplay or, alternatively, a card shoe configured to read and deliver cardsthat have already been randomized. For embodiments using virtual cards,such virtual cards may be displayed at the individual player interfaces416 a through 416 g. Common virtual cards may be displayed in a commoncard area (not shown).

The table 400 may further include a dealer interface 418, which, likethe player interfaces 414 a through 414 g, may include touch screencontrols for assisting the dealer in administering the wagering game.The table 400 may further include an upright display 430 configured todisplay images that depict game information such as paytables, handcounts, historical win/loss information by player, and a wide variety ofother information considered useful to the players. The upright display430 may be double sided to provide such information to players as wellas to the casino pit.

Further detail of an example of a table and player displays is disclosedin U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0016050, filed Jul. 15,2008, published Jan. 21, 2010, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,262,475, issued Sep.11, 2012, and now titled “Chipless Table Split Screen Feature,” thedisclosure of each of which application and patent is incorporatedherein in its entirety by this reference. Although an embodiment isdescribed showing individual discrete player stations, in someembodiments, the entire playing surface 404 may be an electronic displaythat is logically partitioned to permit game play from a plurality ofplayers for receiving inputs from, and displaying game information to,the players, the dealer, or both.

Referring to FIG. 8, another example of a suitable table 500 configuredfor implementation of embodiments of wagering games having a virtualdealer according to the present disclosure is shown. The table 500 mayinclude player positions 514 a through 514 e that are arranged in a bankabout an arcuate edge 520 of a video device 558 that may comprise a cardscreen 564 and a dealer screen 560. The dealer screen 560 may display avideo simulation of the dealer (i.e., a virtual dealer) for interactingwith the video device 558, such as through processing one or more storedprograms stored in memory 595 to implement the rules of game play at thevideo device 558. The dealer screen 560 may be carried by a generallyvertically extending cabinet 562 of the video device 558. The cardscreen 564 may be configured to display at least one or more of thedealer's cards, community cards, and/or player's cards by the virtualdealer on the dealer screen 560 (virtual dealer not shown in FIG. 8).

Each of the player positions 514 a through 514 e may include a playerinterface area 532 a through 532 e that is configured for wagering andgame play interactions with the video device 558 and/or virtual dealer.Accordingly, game play may be accommodated without involving physicalplaying cards, poker chips, and/or live personnel. The action mayinstead be simulated by a control processor 597 interacting with andcontrolling the video device 558. The control processor 597 may belocated internally within, or otherwise proximate to, the video device558. The control processor 597 may be programmed, by known techniques,to implement the rules of game play at the video device 558. As such,the control processor 597 may interact and communicate withdisplay/input interfaces and data entry inputs for each player interfacearea 532 a through 532 e of the video device 558. Other embodiments oftables and gaming devices may include a control processor that may besimilarly adapted to the specific configuration of its associateddevice.

A communication device 599 may be included and operably coupled to thecontrol processor 597 such that information related to operation of thetable 500, information related to the game play, or combinations thereofmay be communicated between the table 500 and other devices (not shown)through a suitable communication media, such, as, for example, wirednetworks, Wi-Fi networks, and cellular communication networks.

The video device 558 may further include banners (not shown) configuredto communicate rules of play and/or the like, which may be located alongone or more walls 570 of the cabinet 562. The video device 558 mayfurther include additional decorative lights (not shown) and speakers(not shown), which may be located on an underside surface 566, forexample, of a generally horizontally depending top 568 of the cabinet562 of the video device 558 generally extending toward the playerpositions 514 a through 514 e.

Further detail of an example of a table and player displays is disclosedin U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/764,995, filed Jan. 26, 2004,published as U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0164762 onJul. 28, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,272,958, issued Sep. 25, 2012, andtitled “Automated Multiplayer Game Table with Unique Image Feed ofDealer,” the disclosure of each of which application and patent isincorporated herein in its entirety by this reference. Although anembodiment is described showing individual discrete player stations, insome embodiments, the entire playing surface (e.g., player interfaceareas 532 a through 532 e, card screen 564, etc.) may be an electronicdisplay that is logically partitioned to permit game play from aplurality of players for receiving inputs from, and displaying gameinformation to, the players, the dealer, or both.

Wagering games in accordance with embodiments of the disclosure may beadministered over the Internet, or otherwise online, in one embodimentusing a gaming system employing a client server architecture. Referringto FIG. 9, illustrated is a schematic block diagram of a gaming system600 for implementing wagering games according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure. The gaming system 600 enables end users to accessproprietary and/or non-proprietary game content. Such game content mayinclude, without limitation, various types of wagering games such ascard games, dice games, big wheel games, roulette, scratch off games(“scratchers”), and any other wagering game where the game outcome isdetermined, in whole or in part, by one or more random events. Thisincludes, but is not be limited to, Class II and Class III games asdefined under 25 U.S.C. §2701 et seq. (“Indian Gaming Regulatory Act”).Such games may include banked and/or non-banked games.

The wagering games supported by the gaming system 600 may be operatedwith real currency or with virtual credits or other virtual (e.g.,electronic) value indicia. For example, the real currency option may beused with traditional casino and lottery-type wagering games in whichmoney or other items of value are wagered and may be cashed out at theend of a game session. The virtual credits option may be used withwagering games in which credits (or other symbols) may be issued to aplayer to be used for the wagers. A player may be credited with creditsin any way allowed, including, but not limited to, a player purchasingcredits; being awarded credits as part of a contest or a win event inthis or another game (including non-wagering games); being awardedcredits as a reward for use of a product, casino, or other enterprise,time played in one session, or games played; or may be as simple asbeing awarded virtual credits upon logging in at a particular time orwith a particular frequency, etc. Although credits may be won or lost,the ability of the player to cash out credits may be controlled orprevented. In one example, credits acquired (e.g., purchased or awarded)for use in a play-for-fun game may be limited to non-monetary redemptionitems, awards, or credits usable in the future or for another game orgaming session. The same credit redemption restrictions may be appliedto some or all of credits won in a wagering game as well.

An additional variation includes web-based sites having bothplay-for-fun and wagering games, including issuance of free(non-monetary) credits usable to play the play-for-fun games. This mayattract players to the site and to the games before they engage inwagering. In some embodiments, a limited number of free or promotionalcredits may be issued to entice players to play the games. Anothermethod of issuing credits includes issuing free credits in exchange foridentifying friends who may want to play. In another embodiment,additional credits may be issued after a period of time has elapsed toencourage the player to resume playing the game. The gaming system 600may enable players to buy additional game credits to allow the player toresume play. Objects of value may be awarded to play-for-fun players,which may or may not be in a direct exchange for credits. For example, aprize may be awarded or won for a highest scoring play-for-fun playerduring a defined time interval. All variations of credit redemption arecontemplated, as desired by game designers and game hosts (the person orentity controlling the hosting systems).

The gaming system 600 may include a gaming platform that establishes aportal for an end user to access a wagering game hosted by a game server606 through a user interaction server 602. The user device 620 maycommunicate with a user interaction server 602 of the gaming system 600using a network 630 (e.g., the Internet). The user interaction server602 may communicate with the game server 606 and provide gameinformation to the user. In some embodiments, the game server 606 mayalso be a game engine. In some embodiments, a single user devicecommunicates with a game provided by the game server 606, while otherembodiments may include a plurality of user devices 620 configured tocommunicate and provide end users with access to the same game providedby the game server 606. In addition, a plurality of end users may bepermitted to access a single user interaction server 602, or a pluralityof user interaction servers 602, to access the game server 606.

The user interaction server 602 may communicate with the user device 620to enable access to the gaming system 600. The user interaction server602 may enable a user to create and access a user account and interactwith gaming server 606. The user interaction server 602 may enable usersto initiate new games, join existing games, and interface with gamesbeing played by the user.

The user interaction server 602 may also provide a client 622 forexecution on the user device 620 for accessing the gaming system 600.The client 622 provided by the gaming system 600 for execution on theuser device 620 can comprise a variety of implementations according tothe user device 620 and method of communication with the gaming system600. In one embodiment, the user device 620 connects to the gamingsystem 600 using a web browser, and the client 622 executes within abrowser window or frame of the web browser. In another embodiment, theclient 622 is a stand-alone executable on the user device 620.

In one embodiment, the client 622 may comprise a relatively small amountof script (e.g., JAVASCRIPT®), also referred to as a “script driver,”including scripting language that controls an interface of the client622. The script driver may include simple function calls requestinginformation from the gaming system 600. In other words, the scriptdriver stored in the client 622 may merely include calls to functionsthat are externally defined by, and executed by, the gaming system 600.As a result, the client 622 may be characterized as a “thin client.” Asthat term is used herein, the client 622 may be little more than ascript player. The client 622 may simply send requests to the gamingsystem 600 rather than performing logic itself. The client 622 receivesplayer inputs, and the player inputs are passed to the gaming system 600for processing and executing the wagering game. In one embodiment, thisincludes providing specific graphical display information to client 622as well as game outcomes.

In other embodiments, the client 622 comprises an executable file ratherthan a script. In that case, client 622 may do more local processingthan does a script driver, such as calculating where to show what gamesymbols upon receiving a game outcome from game server 606 through userinteraction server 602. In one embodiment, it may be that portions of anasset server 604 are loaded onto the client 622 and are used by theclient 622 in processing and updating graphical displays. Due tosecurity and integrity concerns, most embodiments will have the bulk ofthe processing of the game play performed in the gaming system 600.However, some embodiments may include significant game processing byclient 622 when the client and user device 620 are consideredtrustworthy or when there is reduced concern for security and integrityin the displayed game outcome. In most embodiments, it is expected thatsome form of data protection, such as end-to-end encryption, will beused when data is transported over network 630. Network 630 may be anynetwork, including, but not limited to, the Internet.

In an embodiment where the client 622 implements further logic and gamecontrol methodology beyond the thin client, the client 622 may parse anddefine player interactions prior to passing the player interactions tothe gaming system 600. Likewise, when the client 622 receives a gaminginteraction from the gaming system 600, the client 622 may be configuredto determine how to modify the display as a result of the gaminginteraction. The client 622 may also allow the player to change aperspective or otherwise interact with elements of the display that donot change aspects of the game.

The gaming system 600 may include an asset server 604, which may hostvarious media assets (e.g., audio, video, and image files) that may besent to the client 622 for presenting the various wagering games to theend user. In other words, in this embodiment, the assets presented tothe end user may be stored separately from the client 622. In oneembodiment, the client 622 requests the assets appropriate for the gameplayed by the user; in other embodiments, especially those using thinclients, just those assets that are needed for a particular displayevent will be sent by game server 606 when the game server 606determines they are needed, including as few as one asset. In oneexample, the client 622 may call a function defined at the userinteraction server 602 or asset server 604, which may determine whichassets are to be delivered to the client 622 as well as how the assetsare to be presented by the client 622 to the end user. Different assetsmay correspond to the various clients that may have access to the gameserver 606 or to different games to be played.

The game server 606 is configured to perform game play methods anddetermine game play outcomes that are provided to the user interactionserver 602 to be transmitted to the user device 620 for display on theend user's computer. For example, the game server 606 may include gamerules for one or more wagering games, such that the game server 606controls some or all of the game flow for a selected wagering game aswell as the determined game outcomes. The game server 606 may includepaytables and other game logic. The game server 606 also performs randomnumber generation for determining random game elements of the wageringgame. In one embodiment, the game server 606 is separated from the userinteraction server 602 by a firewall or other method of preventingunauthorized access to the game server 606 from the general members ofthe network 630.

The user device 620 may present a gaming interface to the player andcommunicate the user interaction to the gaming system 600. The userdevice 620 may be any electronic system capable of displaying gaminginformation, receiving user input, and communicating the user input tothe gaming system 600. As such, the user device 620 can be a desktopcomputer, a laptop, a tablet computer, a set-top box, a mobile device(including, but not limited to, a smart phone), a kiosk, a terminal, oranother computing device. The user device 620 operating the client 622may comprise an interactive electronic gaming system 300 (see FIG. 6),as described above. The client 622 may be a specialized application ormay be executed within a generalized application capable of interpretinginstructions from an interactive gaming system, such as a web browser.

The client 622 may interface with an end user through a web page or anapplication that runs on a device including, but not limited to, asmartphone, a tablet, or a general computer, or the client 622 may beany other computer program configurable to access the gaming system 600.The client 622 may be illustrated within a casino webpage (or otherinterface) indicating that the client 622 is embedded into a webpage,which is supported by a web browser executing on the user device 620.

In one embodiment, the gaming system 600 may be operated by differententities. The user device 620 may be operated by a third party, such asa casino or an individual, that links to the gaming system 600, whichmay be operated, for example, by a wagering game service provider.Therefore, in some embodiments, the user device 620 and client 622 maybe operated by a different administrator than the operator of the gameserver 606. In other words, the user device 620 may be part of athird-party system that does not administer or otherwise control thegaming system 600 or game server 606. In another embodiment, the userinteraction server 602 and asset server 604 are provided by athird-party system. For example, a gaming entity (e.g., a casino) mayoperate the user interaction server 602 or user device 620 to provideits customers access to game content managed by a different entity thatmay control game server 606, amongst other functionality. In someembodiments, these functions are operated by the same administrator. Forexample, a gaming entity (e.g., a casino) may elect to perform each ofthese functions in-house, such as providing both the access to the userdevice 620 and the actual game content and providing administration ofthe gaming system 600.

The gaming system 600 may communicate with one or more external accountservers 610, optionally through another firewall. For example, thegaming system 600 itself may not directly accept wagers or issuepayouts. That is, the gaming system 600 may facilitate online casinogaming but may not be part of a self-contained online casino itself.Instead, the gaming system 600 may facilitate the play of wagering gamesowned and controlled by a company offering games and gaming products andservices, such as SHFL entertainment, Inc. Another entity (e.g., acasino or any account holder or financial system of record) may operateand maintain its external account servers 610 to accept bets and makepayout distributions. The gaming system 600 may communicate with theaccount servers 610 to verify the existence of funds for wagering and toinstruct the account server 610 to execute debits and credits.

In some embodiments, the gaming system 600 may directly accept bets andmake payout distributions, such as in the case where an administrator ofthe gaming system 600 operates as a casino. As discussed above, thegaming system 600 may be integrated within the operations of a casinorather than separating out functionality (e.g., game content, game play,credits, debits, etc.) among different entities. In addition, forplay-for-fun wagering games, the gaming system 600 may issue credits,take bets, and manage the balance of the credits according to the gameoutcomes, but the gaming system 600 may not permit payout distributionsor be linked to an account server 610 that permits payout distributions.Such credits may be issued for free, through purchase, or for otherreasons, without the ability for the player to cash out. Suchplay-for-fun wagering games may be administered on platforms that do notpermit traditional gambling, such as to comply with jurisdictions thatdo not permit online gambling.

The gaming system 600 may be configured in many ways, from a fullyintegrated single system to a distributed server architecture. The assetserver 604, the user interaction server 602, the game server 606, andthe account server 610 may be configured as a single, integrated systemof code modules running on a single server or machine, where each of theservers is functionally implemented on a single machine. In such a case,the functionality described herein may not be implemented as separatecode modules. The asset server 604, the user interaction server 602, thegame server 606, and the account server 610 may also be implemented as aplurality of independent servers, each using its own code modulesrunning on a separate physical machine, and may further include one ormore firewalls between selected servers (depending on security needs).Each server could communicate over some kind of networked connection,potentially as varied as that described for network 630. Further, eachsingle server shown in FIG. 9 may be implemented as a plurality ofservers with load balancing and scalability factors built into theembodiment. All such embodiments and variations are fully contemplated.

Additional features may be supported by the game server 606, such ashacking and cheating detection, data storage and archival, metricsgeneration, messages generation, output formatting for different enduser devices, as well as other features and operations. For example, thegaming system 600 may include additional features and configurations asdescribed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/353,194, filed Jan. 18,2012, and application Ser. No. 13/609,031, filed Sep. 10, 2012, bothtitled “Network Gaming Architecture, Gaming Systems, and RelatedMethods,” the disclosures of which are incorporated herein in theirentirety by this reference.

The network 630 may enable communications between the user device 620and the gaming system 600. A network (not shown) may also connect thegaming system 600 and account server 610, and, further, one or morenetworks (not shown) may interconnect one or more of the other serversshown collectively as the game system 600. In one embodiment, thenetwork 630 uses standard communications technologies and/or protocols.Thus, the network 630 can include links using technologies such asEthernet, 802.11, worldwide interoperability for microwave access(WIMAX®), 3G, digital subscriber line (DSL), asynchronous transfer mode(ATM), INFINIBAND®, PCI Express Advanced Switching, etc. Similarly, thenetworking protocols used on the network 630 can include multiprotocollabel switching (MPLS), the transmission control protocol/Internetprotocol (TCP/IP), the User Datagram Protocol (UDP), the hypertexttransport protocol (HTTP), the simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP), thefile transfer protocol (FTP), etc. The data exchanged over the network630 can be represented using technologies and/or formats including thehypertext markup language (HTML), the extensible markup language (XML),etc. In addition, all or some of the links can be encrypted usingconventional encryption technologies such as secure sockets layer (SSL),transport layer security (TLS), virtual private networks (VPNs),Internet Protocol security (IPsec), etc. In another embodiment, theentities can use custom and/or dedicated data communicationstechnologies instead of, or in addition to, the ones described above.Depending upon the embodiment, the network 630 can include linkscomprising one or more networks such as the Internet.

Referring to FIG. 10, a high-level block diagram of a computer system640 for acting as the gaming system 600 (see FIG. 9) according to oneembodiment is shown. Illustrated are at least one processor 642 coupledto a chipset 644, as indicated in dashed lines. Also coupled to thechipset 644 are memory 646, a storage device 648, a keyboard 650, agraphics adapter 652, a pointing device 654, and a network adapter 656.A display 658 is coupled to the graphics adapter 652. In one embodiment,the functionality of the chipset 644 is provided by a memory controllerhub 660 and an I/O controller hub 662. In another embodiment, the memory646 is coupled directly to the processor 642 instead of to the chipset644.

The storage device 648 is any non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium, such as a hard drive, a compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM),a DVD, or a solid-state memory device (e.g., a flash drive). The memory646 holds instructions and data used by the processor 642. The pointingdevice 654 may be a mouse, a track pad, a track ball, or another type ofpointing device, and it is used in combination with the keyboard 650 toinput data into the computer system 640. The graphics adapter 652displays images and other information on the display 658. The networkadapter 656 couples the computer system 640 to a local or wide areanetwork.

As is known in the art, the computer system 640 can have differentand/or other components than those shown in FIG. 10. In addition, thecomputer system 640 can lack certain illustrated components. In oneembodiment, the computer system 640 acting as the gaming system 600(FIG. 9) lacks the keyboard 650, pointing device 654, graphics adapter652, and/or display 658. Moreover, the storage device 648 can be localand/or remote from the computer system 640 (such as embodied within astorage area network (SAN)). Moreover, other input devices, such as, forexample, touch screens may be included.

The network adapter 656 (may also be referred to herein as acommunication device) may include one or more devices for communicatingusing one or more of the communication media and protocols discussedabove with respect to FIG. 9.

In addition, some or all of the components of this general computersystem 640 of FIG. 10 may be used as part of the processor and memorydiscussed above with respect to the systems of FIGS. 6, 7, and 8.

The gaming system 600 (FIG. 9) may comprise several such computersystems 640. The gaming system 600 may include load balancers,firewalls, and various other components for assisting the gaming system600 to provide services to a variety of user devices.

As is known in the art, the computer system 640 is adapted to executecomputer program modules for providing functionality described herein.As used herein, the term “module” refers to computer program logicutilized to provide the specified functionality. Thus, a module can beimplemented in hardware, firmware, and/or software. In one embodiment,program modules are stored on the storage device 648, loaded into thememory 646, and executed by the processor 642.

Embodiments of the entities described herein can include other and/ordifferent modules than the ones described here. In addition, thefunctionality attributed to the modules can be performed by other ordifferent modules in other embodiments. Moreover, this descriptionoccasionally omits the term “module” for purposes of clarity andconvenience.

Some portions of the disclosure are presented in terms of algorithms(e.g., as represented in flowcharts, prose descriptions, or both) andsymbolic representations of operations on data bits within a computermemory. These algorithmic descriptions and representations are the meansused by those skilled in the data processing arts to most effectivelyconvey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. Analgorithm is here, and generally, conceived to be a self-consistentsequence of steps (instructions) leading to a desired result. The stepsare those requiring physical manipulations of physical quantities.Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities take the form ofelectrical, magnetic, or optical signals capable of being stored,transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. It isconvenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, to referto these signals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms,numbers, or the like. Furthermore, it is also convenient at times torefer to certain arrangements of steps requiring physical manipulationsor transformation of physical quantities or representations of physicalquantities as modules or code devices, without loss of generality.

However, all of these and similar terms are to be associated with theappropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels appliedto these quantities. Unless specifically stated otherwise as apparentfrom the following discussion, it is appreciated that throughout thedescription, discussions utilizing terms such as “processing,”“computing,” “calculating,” “determining,” “displaying,” “determining,”or the like, refer to the action and processes of a computer system, orsimilar electronic computing device (such as a specific computingmachine), that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical(electronic) quantities within the computer system memories or registersor other such information storage, transmission, or display devices.

Certain aspects of the embodiments include process steps andinstructions described herein in the form of an algorithm. It should benoted that the process steps and instructions of the embodiments can beembodied in software, firmware, or hardware, and, when embodied insoftware, could be downloaded to reside on and be operated fromdifferent platforms used by a variety of operating systems. Theembodiments can also be in a computer program product that can beexecuted on a computing system.

Some embodiments also relate to an apparatus for performing theoperations herein. Such an apparatus may be specially constructed forthe purposes, e.g., a specific computer, or it may comprise ageneral-purpose computer selectively activated or reconfigured by acomputer program stored in the computer. Such a computer program may bestored in a computer-readable storage medium, such as, but is notlimited to, any type of disk including floppy disks, optical disks,CD-ROMs, magnetic-optical disks, read-only memories (ROMs), randomaccess memories (RAMs), EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards,application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or any type of mediasuitable for storing electronic instructions, and each coupled to acomputer system bus. Memory can include any of the above and/or otherdevices that can store information/data/programs and can be a transientor non-transient medium, where a non-transient or non-transitory mediumcan include memory/storage that stores information for more than aminimal duration. Furthermore, the computers referred to in thespecification may include a single processor or may be architecturesemploying multiple processor designs for increased computing capability.

The algorithms and displays presented herein are not inherently relatedto any particular computer or other apparatus. Various general-purposesystems may also be used with programs in accordance with the teachingsherein, or it may prove convenient to construct more specializedapparatus to perform the method steps. The structure for a variety ofthese systems will appear from the description herein. In addition, theembodiments are not described with reference to any particularprogramming language. It will be appreciated that a variety ofprogramming languages may be used to implement the teachings of theembodiments as described herein, and any references herein to specificlanguages are provided for the purposes of enablement and best mode.

As another specific, nonlimiting example, a method of administering aplayer-banked wagering game over a network may comprise: receiving atthe user interaction server authorization from each player to receive apot wager and sending from the user interaction server an indicationthat the pot wagers have been added to a poker pot; receiving at theuser interaction server authorization to receive at least one pot wagerfrom each player and sending from the user interaction server anindication that the pot wagers have been added to the pot; transferringa rake from at least the pot wager to an account server; sending fromthe user interaction server rank and suit information for seven cardsallocated to each player; sending from the user interaction server rankand suit information for a seven-card dealer hand; receiving at the userinteraction server user instructions from each player to arrange theircards into their chosen high hand and low hand configurations orreceiving a user instruction to set the player hand the house way;applying at a game server a house way and arranging cards allocated tothe dealer into high hand and a low hand configuration; evaluating atthe game server the dealer's low hand and determining whether it is of apredetermined disqualifying rank: if the dealer's low hand is of thepredetermined disqualifying rank, returning one-half of the amount ofeach ante wager to each player; if the dealer's low hand is not of thepredetermined disqualifying rank; resolving the ante wager by comparingat the game server the high hand of each player to the high hands of theother players and the dealer and the low hand of each player to the lowhands of the other players the dealer, wherein an entire amount in thepoker pot is awarded to the player holding the highest ranked high hand,the highest ranked low hand, or the highest ranked high hand and lowhand; and resolving the pot wager by comparing at the game server a rankof the high hand and low hand of each player and the dealer, comparing abest 5-card hand of each player making a fortune bonus wager to apaytable, and paying odds payouts for winning hands from the pot,wherein at least a portion of the pot, less the rake, is awarded to theplayer or the dealer holding a predetermined winning hand combination ora premium winning hand composition.

As yet another specific, nonlimiting example, a method of administeringa player-banked wagering game over a network may comprise: receiving atthe user interaction server authorization from each player to receive atleast an ante wager and sending from the user interaction server anindication that the ante wagers have been added to a first pot;receiving at the user interaction server authorization to receive apoker wager from each player and sending from the user interactionserver an indication that the poker wagers have been added to a pokerpot separate from the first pot; transferring a rake from at least oneof the first pot and poker pot to an account server; sending from theuser interaction server rank and suit information for seven cardsallocated to each player; receiving at the user interaction server userinstructions from each player to arrange their cards into their chosenhigh hand and low hand configurations or receiving an instruction to setthe player cards a house way; applying at a game server a house way andarranging cards allocated to the dealer into a high hand and a low handconfiguration; evaluating at the game server the dealer's low hand anddetermining whether it is of a predetermined disqualifying rank: if thedealer's low hand is of the predetermined disqualifying rank, returningthe ante wager to each player not designated as the dealer; if thedealer's low hand is not of the predetermined disqualifying rank,resolving the ante wager by comparing at the game server the high handof each player to the high hand of the dealer and the low hand of eachplayer to the low hand of the dealer, wherein an entire remaining amountin the poker pot is awarded to the player holding the highest rankedhigh hand, the highest ranked low hand, or the highest ranked high handand low hand. Additional wagers may be resolved by determining at thegame server whether a predetermined event has occurred, wherein at leasta portion of the first pot, less the rake, is distributed to a playerwhen the predetermined event has occurred.

As still another specific, nonlimiting example, a method ofadministering a play-for-free wagering game over a network may comprise:sending from a user interaction server a quantity of valueless wageringelements usable within a predetermined time period to each player;receiving at the user interaction server authorization from each playerto allocate at least one valueless chip to an ante wager; sending fromthe user interaction server rank and suit information for seven cardsallocated to each player; receiving at the user interaction server userinstructions from each player to arrange their cards into their chosenhigh hand and low hand configurations or receiving an instruction to setthe player cards a house way; applying at a game server a house way andarranging cards allocated to a dealer into high hand and a low handconfiguration; evaluating at the game server the dealer's low hand anddetermining whether it is of a predetermined disqualifying rank: if thedealer's low hand is of the predetermined disqualifying rank, returningeach ante wager to each player; if the dealer's low hand is not of thepredetermined disqualifying rank, resolving the ante wager by comparingat the game server the high hand and the low hand of each player to thehigh hand and the low hand of the dealer; and receiving authorization toredeem a valueless access token at the user interaction server from aplayer who has exhausted the quantity of valueless wagering elements ordetermining that the predetermined time period has lapsed for a playerwho has exhausted the quantity of valueless wagering elements andsending from the user interaction server another quantity of valuelesswagering elements usable within another predetermined time period to theplayer.

While certain illustrative embodiments have been described in connectionwith the figures, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize andappreciate that embodiments encompassed by the disclosure are notlimited to those embodiments explicitly shown and described herein.Rather, many additions, deletions, and modifications to the embodimentsdescribed herein may be made without departing from the scope ofembodiments encompassed by the disclosure, such as those hereinafterclaimed, including legal equivalents. In addition, features from onedisclosed embodiment may be combined with features of another disclosedembodiment while still being within the scope of the disclosure, ascontemplated by the inventor.

1. A method of administering a wagering game, comprising: accepting anante wager from each player on a game of pai gow poker to be playedagainst a dealer; dealing seven cards to each player and the dealer,with which each player and the dealer is permitted to form a two-cardlow hand and a five-card high hand; and resolving the ante wager,wherein resolving the ante wager comprises returning each ante wager toeach player when the low hand held by the dealer is of a predetermineddisqualifying rank.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein returning the antewager when the low hand held by the dealer is of the predetermineddisqualifying rank comprises returning the ante wager when the low handheld by the dealer is ranked nine high.
 3. The method of claim 1,further comprising accepting a bonus side wager from at least one playerand resolving the bonus side wager, wherein resolving the bonus sidewager comprises paying a bonus payout to each player who made the bonusside wager when the low hand held by the dealer is of the predetermineddisqualifying rank.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein paying the bonuspayout comprises paying a fixed odds bonus payout of 30:1.
 5. The methodof claim 1, further comprising accepting a fortune side wager from atleast one player and resolving the fortune side wager.
 6. The method ofclaim 5, wherein resolving the fortune side wager comprises returningeach fortune side wager to each player who made the fortune side wagerwhen the player hand is not a predetermined winning rank.
 7. The methodof claim 5, wherein resolving the fortune side wager comprisesmaintaining each fortune side wager in play when the low hand held bythe dealer is of the predetermined disqualifying rank.
 8. The method ofclaim 5, further comprising paying an envy payout to each player whomade the fortune side wager in an amount that is greater than or equalto a threshold amount when a high hand held by a different player thanthe player who made the fortune side wager is ranked four-of-a-kind orhigher.
 9. The method of claim 1, further comprising accepting aprogressive side wager from at least one player and resolving theprogressive side wager, wherein resolving the progressive side wagercomprises retaining the progressive side wager in a pot when the highhand held by each player who placed the progressive side wager is rankedbelow a predetermined progressive rank and paying a progressive payoutfrom the pot to a player when a high hand held by the player is of thepredetermined progressive rank or higher.
 10. The method of claim 9,wherein resolving the progressive side wager comprises paying theprogressive payout without regard to whether the low hand held by thedealer is of the predetermined disqualifying rank.
 11. The method ofclaim 9, wherein paying the progressive payout comprises paying a fixedpercentage of the pot when a best five out of seven-card hand held by aplayer is a premium hand.
 12. The method of claim 1, further comprisingrefraining from collecting a commission on winning hands from players.13. A method of administering a wagering game, comprising: accepting anante wager from each player on a game of pai gow poker to be playedagainst a dealer by permitting each player to place a chip within anante wager position on a playing surface of a table; dealing seven cardsto each participating player position at the table and a dealerposition, with which each player and the dealer is permitted to form atwo-card low hand and a five-card high hand by arranging two cardswithin a low-hand area and five cards within a high-hand area on thetable at each participating player position and the dealer position; andresolving the ante wager, wherein resolving the ante wager comprisesreturning each ante wager to each player by removing the chip from eachante wager position and returning the chip to a respective player whenthe low hand held by the dealer is of a predetermined disqualifyingrank.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein returning the ante wager whenthe low hand held by the dealer is of the predetermined disqualifyingrank comprises returning the ante wager when the low hand held by thedealer is ranked nine high.
 15. The method of claim 13, furthercomprising accepting a bonus side wager from at least one player bypermitting the at least one player to place a chip within a bonus wagerposition on the playing surface of the table and resolving the bonusside wager, wherein resolving the bonus side wager comprises paying abonus payout to each player who made the bonus side wager by movingadditional chips into the player position of each player who made thebonus side wager when the low hand held by the dealer is of thepredetermined disqualifying rank.
 16. The method of claim 13, furthercomprising accepting a fortune side wager from at least one player bypermitting the at least one player to place a chip within a fortune sidewager position on the playing surface of the table and resolving thefortune side wager.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein resolving thefortune side wager comprises maintaining each fortune side wager in playby leaving each chip within each fortune side wager position on theplaying surface of the table when the low hand held by the dealer is ofthe predetermined disqualifying rank.
 18. The method of claim 16,further comprising paying an envy payout to each player who made thefortune side wager in an amount that is greater than or equal to athreshold amount by moving additional chips into the player position ofeach player who made the fortune side wager in the amount greater thanor equal to the threshold amount when a high hand held by a differentplayer than the player who made the fortune side wager is rankedfour-of-a-kind or higher.
 19. The method of claim 13, further comprisingrefraining from collecting a commission on winning hands from players.20. A gaming table for administering a wagering game, comprising: aplaying surface including at least one player interface for at least oneplayer position, a dealer interface, and at least one processor, the atleast one processor programmed to: accept an ante wager from each playeron a game of pai gow poker to be played against a dealer; process rankand suit information for cards dealt to each player and the dealer;process rank information of a two-card low hand and a five-card highhand selected by each player and the dealer from the cards dealt to eachplayer and the dealer; and resolve the ante wager, wherein resolving theante wager comprises authorizing return of each ante wager to eachplayer when the low hand held by the dealer is ranked nine high.
 21. Amethod of administering a play-for-free wagering game over a network,comprising: sending from a user interaction server a quantity ofvalueless wagering elements usable within a predetermined time period toeach player; receiving at the user interaction server authorization fromeach player to allocate at least one valueless chip to an ante wager;sending from the user interaction server rank and suit information forseven cards allocated to each player; receiving at the user interactionserver user instructions from each player to arrange their cards intotheir chosen high hand and low hand configurations; applying at a gameserver a house way and arranging cards allocated to a dealer into a highhand and a low hand configuration; evaluating at the game server thedealer's low hand and determining whether it is of a predetermineddisqualifying rank: when the dealer's low hand is of the predetermineddisqualifying rank, returning each ante wager to each player; and whenthe dealer's low hand is not of the predetermined disqualifying rank,resolving the ante wager by comparing at the game server the high handand the low hand of each player to the high hand and the low hand of thedealer; and receiving authorization to redeem a valueless access tokenat the user interaction server from a player who has exhausted thequantity of valueless wagering elements or determining that thepredetermined time period has lapsed for a player who has exhausted thequantity of valueless wagering elements and sending from the userinteraction server another quantity of valueless wagering elementsusable within another predetermined time period to the player.
 22. Acomputer implemented method of administering a wagering game,comprising: receiving an instruction from a player interface indicatingplacement of an ante wager; displaying a set of seven player cards andseven dealer cards on a player display; receiving an instruction fromthe player interface to arrange the cards into a two-card hand and aseven-card hand or a request to arrange the cards a house way; arrangingthe dealer cards according to a house way; evaluating the dealer'stwo-card hand to determine if the hand is a disqualifying rank; and whenthe dealer's two-card hand is a disqualifying rank, crediting the playeraccount with the ante amount.
 23. The method of claim 22, wherein thedisqualifying rank is a nine high.
 24. The method of claim 22, furthercomprising receiving a player instruction to place an optional sidewager on the occurrence of a disqualifying dealer two-card hand.
 25. Themethod of claim 22, further comprising receiving a player instruction toplace an optional side wager on the occurrence of a best five out ofseven cards being a predetermined winning hand.